LETTERThe NEWSInternational Hydrofoil Society

P. O. Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818 USA

Editor: Barney C. Black Co-Editor: John R. Meyer

Reprinted From Marine Log, Jan 1997

High speed vehicle-and passenger-carrying ferries are now the

fastest growing segment of the international ferry market. Though

high speed passenger craft have been around for thirty years, the spur

to the sector�s growth has been recent technological advances that have

improved the economics of this type of vessel operation. This has

opened up a wide sphere of potential deployment.

“With technology still developing rapidly,” predicts Ocean

Shipping Consultants of Chertsey, England, “the period to 2005 is

likely to witness considerable advances in both vessel design and in the

acceptance and adoption of the fast ferry concept in ferry markets

throughout the world.”

At Marine Log�s Ferries ‘96 conference in Fort Lauderdale,

Ocean Shipping�s director Stephen Hanrahan further predicted that

while the scale of growth of passenger-only fast ferries might slacken,

the fast car/passenger sector would continue “to display a high level of

dynamism.”

The underlying economics of fast ferries, noted Hanrahan, are

case-specific. For example, it is often claimed that, generally, fast fer-

ries do not suit sailing times of over approximately three hours, because

of the passenger comfort factor. However, the sailing distance must be

sufficient for the fast ferry to yield a significant time savings compared

with a conventional ferry, justifying its higher operating costs and

higher fares. Other factors noted by Hanrahan: frequency of sailing;

assured high level of traffic; and suitable infrastructure at both ends of

the ferry leg (fast passenger embarkation/disembarkation; sufficient

road/ rail links).

SPRING 1997

NEW IHS HOME PAGE NEW

The IHS home page on the World

Wide Web has moved. The new URL is:

http://www.erols.com/foiler

HELP A STUDENT

“I have been unable to find any

practicing hydrofoil specialists, leaving

most of my research in dusty books

printed in the 1940’s!” So writes Owen

Morris, a student at University of New-

castle. Every month, IHS receives two or

three calls for help from students and hob-

byists working on hydrofoil projects. If

you can help occasionally with advice,

design criticism, and ideas, please contact

IHS. We promise not to overload you!

INSIDE...

� President’s Column (2)

� LaunchingFLAGSTAFF (5)

� AMV Workshop (7)

� Letters to the Editor (8)

� News Digest (13)

See High Speed Leads on Page 3

NEW IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS NEW

foiler@erols.com

HIGH SPEED VESSELS LEAD INTERNA-

TIONAL FERRY INDUSTRY GROWTH

Page 2 IHS Spring 1997

WELCOME NEWMEMBERS

Evan Riddle is from Mobile

AL and has an interest in small hy-

drofoils as opposed to planing boats

which pound too much and sail-

boats, which are too slow. See his

“Letter to the Editor” on pages

9-10 of this Newsletter for info on

this enthusiastic new hydrofoiler.

Stephen J. Duich, a veteran

hydrofoiler, now resides in Burke

VA. He reports that his best recol-

lections of the “good old days”

aboard PLAINVIEW include sea

trials in Elliot Bay which included

the ship becoming airborne, his

first foilborne flight at the helm, the

tie-snipping ceremony honoring

Dr. Frosh�s (ASN-R&D) foilborne

flight at the helm, failure of the

starboard strut up-link during the

INSURV Final Contract Trial, and

all the great “Plankowners” who

worked so hard to advance the hy-

drofoil concept.

Ken Cook heads up Hydro-

foil Inc. in Lake Worth FL. Visit his

home page to see his R/C models:

www.gate.net/ ~caseyc/ hydrofoil .html.Ken is marketing his design for an

ultra-high speed commuter hydro-

foil that can be configured for any

combo of passengers and freight.

B. J. Meinhardt of New

Cambria MO is owner/operator of

BJ Co., whose holdings include real

estate, petroleum reserves, heavy

equipment and machine tool sales,

crane service operation, machine

shop services, as well as partner of

Dive Works, a water rescue and re-

covery service. He is co-owner of

PHM-2, as reported in the Winter

96-97 IHS Newsletter.

REPORT ON THE 1997MEETING OF THETRANSPORTATIONRESEARCH BOARD

William Hockberger

[IHS President John Meyer yields

his space in this issue to IHS Board Mem-

ber William Hockberger for this report]

The Transportation Research

Board (TRB), which is a part of the Na-

tional Research Council (under the Na-

tional Academy of Sciences), held its

annual meeting in Washington DC in

Jan. 1997. Over 7,000 people attended,

and the meetings filled the Shoreham,

Sheraton Washington, and Washington

Hilton hotels. There were some 450 tech-

nical sessions and panel discussions,

plus meetings of over 200 standing com-

mittees specializing in various areas re-

lated to transportation. I joined the TRB

as an affiliate and attended a full slate of

sessions over three days.

The TRB�s Ferry Committee met

one evening that week, and John Meyer

[IHS President], Allan Ford (of the US

Hovercraft Society), and I attended as

guests. The Ferry Committee is chaired

by Martha Reardon, who has been a con-

sultant in the ferry business for about 20

years. It has 25 members, including ferry

owners and operators, government trans-

portation planners, consultants in the

ferry business, and at least one university

professor – but apparently no designers

(they are content to use ferries designed

elsewhere but built in the USA, and de-

signers are not missed, at this point). I

was allowed time to give a short briefing

on the Advanced Marine Vehicle (AMV)

workshop we have been planning.

The TRB also has other commit-

tees that deal at least partly with marine

topics, but they are a distinct minority.

Those concerned with highways and

their supporting technologies and indus-

tries are the most prevalent by far – per-

haps 90% of what the TRB is involved

in. Nevertheless I came away with a clear

awareness that the TRB is the focus of a

great deal of activity of interest to marine

industry people, including AMV special-

ists.

Here are a few pertinent items that

were discussed in sessions I attended:

• Five high speed catamarans were ac-

quired by a company to ferry workers

and supplies from shore to Deer Is-

land, in Boston harbor, where a large

industrial project has been underway.

It�s a genuine fast ferry service,

though obviously for a select clien-

tele.

• General Dynamics has formed a sub-

sidiary to operate two catamaran fer-

ries from its old Fore River shipyard in

Quincy MA to downtown Boston and

to Logan Airport. The craft were built

in Massachusetts by Gladding-Hearn

and began operation in Nov. 96. It�s an

InCat design carrying 149 passengers,

has a max. speed of 35 knots but nor-

mally cruises at 30, is propelled by

two Bird-Johnson waterjets, has a

GRP hull and aluminum superstruc-

ture, and costs about $1.5M each.

• Arthur Imperatore, the big New York

City ferry operator, gave an interest-

ing presentation on his routes into

Manhattan, two of which carry 2-1/2

million passengers a year each. They

are not fast ferries, but what was of in-

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Continued on Next PageContinued on Page 15

IHS Spring 1997 Page 3

According to Hanrahan “whilst

the sailing time, and therefore voyage

length, is effectively limited by the na-

ture of passenger accommodations, the

sailing part of the overall transport leg

needs to be sufficiently large within the

overall transport chain... to generate a

valuable time savings.” While passen-

gers may be ready to pay a premium for

speed, “this premium may vary directly

with the overall time savings involved in

their total transport leg.” A 2-hour sav-

ings will be more significant on a rela-

tively short journey than in a total

journey time of over 12 hours.

Fast Ferry Option

While the switch to fast ferries has

often been made at the expense of con-

ventional ferry tonnage on existing runs,

the speedy new vessels have also enabled

new ferry routes to be opened up. What�s

more with their sleek modern lines and

promise of comfort – often in aircraft

type seating – fast ferries have re-awoken

a consumer interest in ferry transporta-

tion that was previously slumbering.

Ferry operators making the switch to

high speed face a seeming confusion of

choices. No one type of vessel has

emerged as the “standard” fast ferry.

Hanrahan notes five main vessel types

within the world fast ferry fleet: catama-

rans, monohulls, hydrofoils, hovercraft,

and surface effect vessels. [We would

add SWATH (small waterplane area,

twin hull) vessels to the choices thanks to

their ability to maintain a reasonable

service speed in challenging sea condi-

tions -Ed.]

Exponential Growth

Since 1990 fast ferry design and

engineering technology have grown ex-

ponentially. Between 1990 and 1995 the

number of catamaran ferries in operation

around the world grew by more than

60%.

“Catamarans are now the largest

[quantity, not size] vessel type in the fast

ferry profile with high volumes of deliv-

eries in recent years displacing hydro-

foils as the leading fast ferry. The current

total of 543 catamaran vessels represents

approximately 43% of all fast ferries

worldwide, with this easily the fastest

growing type,” Hanrahan adds. De-

signed basically with two narrow alumi-

num hulls bridged by a wide deck, the

catamaran offers larger passenger capac-

ity than a similar length monohull ferry,

and is able to support multiple passenger

decks. It is generally faster than conven-

tional monohulls, with a new generation

of catamarans (“wave-piercers”) devel-

oped in recent years to offer a smoother

ride through the piercing of waves rather

than riding over them.

Catamarans are the most signifi-

cant vessel type in fast ferry markets in

Scandinavia, Europe, Hong Kong, Aus-

tralia ,and the Americas.

The hydrofoil is the next leading

fast ferry type, making up 32% of the

market at the beginning of 1996. “There

are two types of hydrofoil: surface pierc-

ing foils and fully-submerged foils. Hull

shape is a deep ‘V� and made from alumi-

num. Foils are arranged in tandem, are of

a ‘V� configuration, hollow, constructed

from high tensile steel, and fitted with

controllable flaps. The vessels are driven

by two high performance diesel engines

turning screw propellers. Because of the

very nature of the vessels, hydrofoils re-

quire relatively deep water in case of

power failure in which case they become

hullborne. This vessel type [sur-

face-piercing hydrofoil] strongly favors

good sea conditions, with poor

seakeeping in adverse weather tending to

restrict operational suitability,”

Hanrahan explains.

NEW MEMBERS

(Continued From Previous Page)

Continued on Next Page

Eliot James is President of

Custom Composites Company and

its sister company, Advanced Com-

posite Technologies in Salisbury,

Missouri. The company manufac-

tures tooling and parts for aviation,

marine and heavy truck industries.

He is a partner with BJ Meinhardt

in Dive Works. Eliot is a partner

with BJ in ownership of PHM-2.

Matthew DeLaney joins us

from Broken Arrow OK. He is cur-

rently building an experimental ra-

dio-controlled hydrofoil model for

a proof-of-concept design that will

some day enable him to obtain a

patent. We wish him much success.

Malin Dixon - We welcome a

new member from the UK. Malin

attended the University of Cam-

bridge 1978-82, where he majored

in engineering, specializing in elec-

tronics. He then worked as an in-

strumentation engineer for about

six years. Since then he has been Di-

rector of OnSpec Oscillators, es-

tablished in 1988 to meet the need

for fast delivery crystal oscillators,

and is now selling a wide range of

crystal oscillators. His home page:

http://www.onspec.co.uk

K. I. Matveev is a student at

the Acoustical Institute, Shvernika,

Moscow, Russia. He is currently

our only member in Russia or the

former Soviet Republics.

IHS OFFICERS 1996 - 1997

John Meyer President

Mark Bebar Vice President

George Jenkins Treasurer

HIGH SPEED LEADS

(Continued From Page 1)

Page 4 IHS Spring 1997

Continued on Next Page

[Modern surface piercing hydro-

foil design, coupled with automatic con-

trol systems have improved rough

weather seakeeping ability of this vessel

type. -Ed.]

Fully-submerged foils “employ

fully retractable, fully-submerged stain-

less steel foils and are propelled by two

water jet pumps driven by gas turbines.

The vessels are relatively expensive in

terms of running costs however, they are

able to run 45 knots in rough waters.”

Monohulls are cheapest in terms

of newbuilding, operating, and mainte-

nance costs. Distances of over 20 miles

favor the use of single-ended ferries. At

the start of 1995, monohull fast ferries to-

taled 178 vessels, 14% of the market, yet

they are the most important fast ferry

type in the growing Japanese market.

SES design is based on a light-

weight aluminum or fiberglass catama-

ran hull with a flexible skirt seal at bow

and stern. This traps an air cushion which

is pressurized by diesel or gas turbine

driven fans, and the vessel is propelled

by diesel or gas turbine driven screw pro-

pellers. SES ferries represented 6.5% of

the total number of fast ferries at the start

of 1996, half of this number operates in

the Asia/Pacific markets, according to

the Ocean Shipping Consultant�s report.

Hovercraft, popular in Hong

Kong, are driven by aircraft-style propel-

lers and can reach up to 50 knots or more.

“There are 53 vessels operational world-

wide, sharing 4.2% of the ferry market,”

Hanrahan explains.

Among the most recent deliveries

noted by Marine Log is a SCAT SF2000

Eagle hovercraft, built by SCAT Int�l,

that was recently delivered to LKN

Group Singapore. The vessel will oper-

ate a regular schedule from Singapore

Changi Ferry Terminal to Nongsa Point

Terminal at Batam. Traveling at 38 mph

top speed with a passenger load of 20 and

two crew members, the hovercraft can

complete its journey in 15 minutes.

Booms and Slumps

Fast ferry deliveries between 1988

and 1995 have seen various booms and

slumps. The current European market

has lulled. “The shift in importance from

Europe to the Far East is to the fore. In

1988, 55% of all fast ferry newbuildings

were destined for European markets; by

1995 this figure had reduced to 16%,”

Hanrahan reports. The Asian market,

however, seems to have taken up the

slack with “newbuildings aimed at China

and Hong Kong increasing from under

24% in 1988 to almost 55% in 1995. This

serves to emphasize the scale and pace of

fast ferry market growth in Asia-a feature

which, together with continued penetra-

tion by ferry craft of new and existing

conventional ferry markets, is set to fund

continued and rapid overall sector

growth,” he forecasts.

North American Market Potential

In the North American fast ferry

market, Hanrahan comments that there

exists a “substantial potential... in the

USA for [fast] ferry penetration of new

and existing passenger trades. The main

ferry operators in the country are plan-

ning to introduce fast ferry tonnage to

their fleets, and numerous other plans ex-

ist for similar developments. The contin-

uing development of fast ferry

technology is likely to see further pene-

tration of USA passenger trades.”

An interesting example of one

North American operator�s reasons for

introducing a fast ferry service is pro-

vided by British Columbia Ferry Corpo-

ration�s Horseshoe Bay, West

Vancouver, to Nanaimo, Vancouver Is-

land route. Last year, it carried 3.5 mil-

lion passengers and 1.4 million vehicles.

Traffic on routes serving Nanaimo is

forecast to grow by more than 17% over

the next ten years, Michael Martin, direc-

tor of special projects at B.C. Ferries told

the Ferries ‘96 conference.

“If we were to maintain the status

quo on these routes,” Martin explained,

“we would need to invest more than $40

million in terminal expansion at Horse-

shoe Bay to accommodate vehicle traffic

[and] at least $70 million to improve

roadworks at Nanaimo, probably a lot

more.” What�s more “there is no room,

no land, no space to expand either of

these terminals.”

B.C. Ferries took a two-pronged

solution to the problem, It decided to re-

move all heavy commercial truck traffic

from the route and redirect it to a new ter-

minal south of Nanaimo. That frees up

badly needed terminal space, but still left

B.C. Ferries with “too many vehicles

needing to sail at the same time.” The an-

swer: a fast ferry solution. The relatively

benign sea-states on this route, noted

Martin, and its length – 28 miles – made

it ideal for high speed ferries.

As a result, under the management

of a new B.C. Ferries subsidiary, Cata-

maran Ferries International (CFI), a

group of British Columbia yards, is cur-

rently building a large high speed cata-

maran that matches environmental

requirements so that the vessel will have

low wake and wash characteristics, and

acceptable exhaust emission levels.

Based on technology developed by Incat

of Australia, the vessel is designed to

carry 250 vehicles and 1,000 passengers

at a 37 knot cruising speed. The 122.5 m

ship is powered by four MTU 20 V 1163

diesel engines coupled with KaMeWa

type 112 waterjets. It is planned to be

completed and in operation by the mid-

HIGH SPEED LEADS

(Continued From Previous Page)

IHS Spring 1997 Page 5

summer. Martin adds “It has become

something of a cliche to speak of

‘win-win� solutions. But if ever there

was such a thing, fast ferry technology is

it. A win for passengers, a win for the

economy, a win for the shareholder, and a

win for the shipowner.”

Like B.C. Ferries, US operators of

fast ferries seem to have preferred to look

outside the USA for proven foreign de-

signs that can be built in the US under li-

cense. Though Incat designs have long

dominated the US scene, there are now

other challengers in the picture. Exam-

ples include the decision of the

Mashantucket Pequots to build the FBM

Tricat at their Pequot River Shipworks in

New London CT, and the growing suc-

cess of Dakota Creek Industries,

Anacortes, WA, with AMV designs.

Meanwhile, New York Fast Ferries has

looked to Nigel Gee & Assoc. of the UK

for the design of its new 35 knot boats

built at Derecktor Shipyards,

Mamaroneck NY.

E-Cat

An attractive US design described

at Ferries ‘96 is the Halter E-Cat – a low

wake concept for transit areas that are

wake-sensitive and close to housing con-

centrations. The Halter E-Cat produces a

low wake throughout its speed range, and

maintains high speed with modest power

HIGH SPEED LEADS

(Continued From Previous Page)THE LAUNCHING OFFLAGSTAFF (PGH-l)

By Robert J. Johnston

Your editor has asked me if I could

provide some material for the 1997

Spring issue of the IHS NEWSLETTER.

When wondering what might be of inter-

est, I looked at a piece of hardware in my

possession which was cut from an extru-

sion of the main deck material for the

FLAGSTAFF. On this extrusion are

etched the following words:

This etched extrusion was given to

me when I departed Grumman to work

for Bill Ellsworth on the US Navy�s Ad-

vanced Hydrofoil Program at the David

Taylor Research Center. Looking at

those words defining the launch dates

brings back memories of a time of much

apprehension, but also in retrospect a

time with a touch of humor.

The story really begins a couple of

years earlier when contracts were

awarded to Grumman and Boeing to

build two hydrofoil gunboats for the US

Navy, the FLAGSTAFF and

TUCUMCARI, respectively. At

Grumman this award immediately led to

the decision as to where to build the gun-

boat. Grumman had built the DENISON

a few years earlier in an aircraft assembly

area. A lesson was learned at that time

that to control the cost of constructing a

hydrofoil, it should not be built in the

same area as aircraft or need the strict

discipline of specialized mechanics. A

failure of a hydraulic system in an air-

craft can be disastrous; however in the

case of a hydrofoil the ship may fall four

or five feet before making a landing.

Such a landing is quite tolerable, and in

fact a loss of hydraulic power demonstra-

tion while foilborne is a requirement of

the US Coast Guard upon certifying a

passenger hydrofoil.

So Grumman selected an area in

Stuart, Florida where the construction of

the hydrofoil could be kept completely

separate from the aircraft work. A team

of mechanics were selected who were

versatile in at least two trades with the

objective of working as a group without

concern for trade cognizance.

Having selected the location and

the personnel to construct the vessel, at-

tention was directed to the logistics of the

decisions. Among the issues were the

questions of launching, how and where.

The Grumman Stuart facility was an air-

port, across a road from the Inland Water-

way. The Inland Waterway is a protected

route which a boat can use to make a

sheltered transit from New York to the

Florida Keys.

The section of the Waterway near

Stuart is called the Indian River. The

question of moving the boat from the

building site to the edge of the River was

no problem. The ISSUE became how to

launch the boat. Grumman owned the

property on the River, so modification of

the site was not a problem. The issue was

the launch method. The Marine Division

proposed strengthening the property�s

bulkhead and lifting the boat in by

cranes. The design of the craft required

that the gunboat be capable of being

lifted on to a ship for transit purposes.

The facility manager, who owned a fish-

ing boat that he trailered and ramp

launched, favored using that method for

launching the gunboat. He convinced the

management of a cost saving, and against

the best arguments of the Marine Divi-

sion, won the decision. And so a launch

Disclaimer

IHS chooses articles and

photos for potential interest to IHS

members, but does not endorse

products or necessarily agree with

the authors’ opinions or claims.

“Bob Johnston”Plank Owner

FLAGSTAFF (PGH-1)Launched: January 7th, 8th, and 9th!1968 (We cut this from the strength deck- and the damn boat is still too strong!!!!)

From your friends at theGrumman II Iron works

Continued on Next Page

IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS:

foiler@erols.com

Page 6 IHS Spring 1997

Continued on Next Page

IHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1995-1998 1996-1999 1997-2000

William M. Ellsworth Jerry Gore Mark R. Bebar

William J. Erickson Jim King William Hockberger

John R. Meyer Mark Rice George Jenkins

Peter Squicciarini Ken Spaulding Ralph Patterson

FLAGSTAFF

(Continued From Previous Page)

ramp, large enough to handle the FLAG-

STAFF was constructed.

By early January 1968 the FLAG-

STAFF was ready to be moved and

launched. Arrangements were made for a

set of house-moving dollies to transport

the craft to the launch site and for its trip

down the ramp and into the water. The

house movers who were furnishing the

dollies were also hired to assist in the

launch. An early-morning move time

was established to complete the move

before the start of work hours so as not

interfere with the activities of the airfield

and plant. So before eight o�clock on the

morning of January 7th, FLAGSTAFF

had reached the launch ramp and was in

position to roll down the ramp into the

River. High tide was at ten o�clock which

was the appointed time for the christen-

ing and launch ceremonies. Mrs. Towl,

wife of Grumman�s Chairman of the

Board, was to do the related honors. As

an aside the Chairman, Clint Towl, had

made the final decision as to the method

of launch. He owned a winter home

nearby and was very much interested in

what went on at the Stuart plant. The

ramp went down onto a sandy bottom

and had some distance to navigate before

the hydrofoil was completely afloat.

The big concern of the Marine Di-

vision had been the worry that an onshore

breeze would pile up sand around the

dollies and prevent the launch vehicle

from completing its trip into the water.

As the morning dawned a strong onshore

breeze was apparent. Therefore extra di-

vers were brought in to keep the sand

from building up around the dollies. A

tug was ordered to help pull the craft into

deep enough water for floatation. All was

in readiness at ten o�clock. Mrs. Towl did

a most proper job of naming the FLAG-

STAFF and breaking the champagne bot-

tle over the bow. The ceremonies

completed, the music started and the

craft started its trip into the water of In-

dian River. It rolled about 20 feet and

stopped. The tug went to full power and

pulled and nothing moved. Divers

quickly discovered that from the time

they had come out from the ramp until

the rig started to move, sand had built up

on the ramp and prevented further move-

ment.

Now came decision time. The next

high tide was at about 10:15 PM. The de-

cision was to bring another tug, make an-

other effort of clearing sand from the

ramp, and attempt another launch at high

tide in the evening. As it was going to be

dark, lighting was needed for the work-

men. A carnival had its winter quarters

nearby, and night lighting was obtained

from them. The lights were quite garish

with multi-colors, but they did an excel-

lent job of lighting the work area. They

also attracted people in the Stuart area as

word spread of the Navy ship stuck on

the launch ways. As the crowd began to

gather, bringing their beach chairs to

watch the proceedings, enterprising food

dispensers brought in their trucks to sell

their wares. So the whole scene began to

look like a carnival with the FLAG-

STAFF the main attraction.

As ten o�clock approached the di-

vers went to work removing the sand

from around the wheels of the dollies and

the two tugs were readied for their pull-

ing effort. The divers kept reporting that

we were going to have to move quickly

because the sand kept coming in as fast as

they could move it. The divers were

cleared and the tugs were signaled to

pull, and again nothing happened. The

lights were turned off and the crowd dis-

persed. It was back to the drawing board.

It was decided to use winch power

to assist in moving the launch rig. The

game plan was to obtain a Diesel pow-

ered winch, sink pilings for a purchase,

holding a pulley, and secure a line to the

deck of the hydrofoil. Both the winch and

the piling were going to have to be well

anchored for the effort to succeed. The

moving crew were concerned that any

side pull would damage the dollies. We

convinced them that we would minimize

any side pull. Their only comment was

that they were glad their boss was not

there. The effort was scheduled to re-

sume at daylight on 8 January.

As daylight came and we arrived

at the launch site, we were surprised to

see that the food vendors were already

there and expecting a crowd as the day

wore on. They were not disappointed.

Pilings were driven as deep and secure as

possible. A powered winch was brought

in and secured to some large trees on the

property. By late afternoon the tugs were

brought back, divers had performed their

tasks and we were ready to make another

attempt in spite of a steady on-shore

breeze. The GO! signal was given, and

IHS Spring 1997 Page 7

FLAGSTAFF

(Continued From Previous Page)

the launch rig started to move with a

great cheer from the crowd. Eyes were on

the piling: as the rig moved, the piling

slowly started to come out of its location.

After the craft had moved another seven

or eight feet, the piling pulled loose.

We were stuck again!

And so we assembled around that

fateful drawing board again. We had all

noticed a small tree at the far end of the

property, making it closer to deep water

than the piling we had driven. The tree

was about eight inches in diameter and

had been discussed as a holding point. It

was problematical whether its roots were

deep enough to give us a secure point.

The decision was made to give it a shot.

Our meteorologist informed us that a

wind shift could be expected during the

next morning hours. So the decision was

made to drive the piling as deep as possi-

ble and to use the tree to help hold the pil-

ing in place. We would work into the

evening hours of the 8th and have all

hands and facilities ready for a try late in

the morning of the 9th. So we returned to

work with our beautiful lights and with

our interested crowd present. Oh how I

wished for that stronger bulkhead and

those two cranes to lift FLAGSTAFF

into a floating position!

The morning of the 9th came,

along with our crowd of rooters and the

accompanying food vendors. As our

crew assembled and the tugs were posi-

tioned our divers reported some relief

from the sand due to a now seaward

wind. It was well into the afternoon be-

fore everything was in position for the

next try. And so again the GO! signal was

given and all eyes focused on that little

tree. The launch rig started to move and

the little tree began to bend and bend it

did, but the roots held fast keeping the

piling in place. Slowly but surely the rig

moved into deeper water and the FLAG-

STAFF launch was completed. The

crowd cheered, and then quietly dis-

persed. The food vendors offered hot

dogs and coffee to all the crew and the

show was over. The house movers even

got their dollies on shore before their

boss showed up that evening. The

FLAGSTAFF crew started the onboard

Diesel generators and hull drives and un-

der her own power went to spend the

night securely tied up at Evenrude�s ex-

perimental marina.

From her birthplace, the FLAG-

STAFF went to Palm Beach, Florida

where it passed extensive sea trials for

the US Navy. After acceptance, the craft

was deck loaded for transit to San Diego

for additional Navy evaluation and read-

ied for assignment to Vietnam where she

performed rapid sea patrols. Upon return

to the United States the FLAGSTAFF

was assigned to the Coast Guard for eval-

uation of the hydrofoil in their missions.

It was ultimately sold to fellow IHS

member, John Altoonian of New Jersey,

DISCOUNT FOR IHSMEMBERS

Ken Cook of Hydrofoils, Inc.

was so pleased to discover (and join)

IHS that he has offered a LARGE

discount to IHS members. Ken de-

signs and manufactures super fast

radio controlled hydrofoil models in

kit form or ready to fly. There are

gas, electric, and nitro-methane

powered models. For info, contact

Ken at (561) 964-6399, or you

canlink to the Hydrofoil Incorpo-

rated web site from the IHS home

page (http://www.erols.com/foiler).

Note that IHS does not endorse

products or services, so Ken’s prod-

ucts will have to stand as their own

recommendation. [We would like to

hear details from anyone who buys

and operates one of these R/C racers.

PLANNING THEWORKSHOP ON

ADVANCED MARINEVEHICLES

William Hockberger

A committee of members of the

US Hovercraft Society, the International

Hydrofoil Society, and the Society of Na-

val Architects and Marine Engineers

(SNAME) panels on advanced marine

vehicles and maritime economics has

been planning an AMV workshop in

Washington this year. Because of the at-

tention and interest they receive, fast fer-

ries were chosen as a focus for our AMV

discussions. Initially there appeared to be

a clear agenda of topics to be covered,

but progress slowed when it became ap-

parent that there are wide-ranging opin-

ions as to who needs what information.

Discussions with ferry industry

people reveal that, while interested in

AMVs, they do not see AMVs as rele-

vant to their own requirements. Several

believe that the performance of a modern

30 knot catamaran is near the upper edge

of what their riders would be willing to

pay for. Most do not perceive any actual

problems a workshop should address,

nor do they think they are missing infor-

mation our workshop might provide. For

example, Martha Reardon, TRB Ferry

Committee chairman, expressed her be-

lief that there are no legislative changes

needed, no new or improved ferry de-

signs they can�t already obtain, and no

new methodology needed for analyzing a

ferry system to determine what is re-

quired. She supports the idea of a work-

shop on the basis that any discussion of

ferries is helpful, but there is no specific

benefit she would expect from it. We of

course disagree and think we may be able

to convince ferry industry skeptics that in

the right situations, AMVs can be more

profitable than conventional ferries.

Continued on Page 16

Pride of Ownership

I have noticed that misinformation

in letters and articles propagate to be-

come facts if they are not corrected by

editorial comment. One correction is that

Capt. Ron Fraser of Astoria, Oregon

owns HIGH POINT, not Diversified Ma-

rine. He is slowly refurbishing the HIGH

POINT to someday cruise on the hull to-

ward Alaska. Another correction is that

the owner of FRESH-1 is Dave

Symington of Seattle, Washington. He

also has the struts, the demonstration

foils, and the transit foils stored at Silver-

dale. He has asked for suggestions on the

use of FRESH-1.

Sumi Arima

colarima@msn.com

IHS Home Page

I am impressed by the IHS home

page. I�m downloading it to study at my

leisure (local phone calls aren�t free

here!). However, the pictures are much

more detailed, and take much longer to

download, than they need to.

Malin Dixon

malin@onspec.co.uk

[The home page has progressed to

the point that it has moved from the edi-

tor�s personal Compuserve account to its

own account. See page 1 of this issue for

the new address. IHS members are asked

to visit the home page from time to time

and help answer the posted requests for

information. -Ed]

Where To Buy

Please provide me the names of

the people or manufacturers of Hydro-

foils, their position, telephone, fax and

email address. I would like to get in touch

with them as I want to buy a Commuter

Hydrofoil that can accommodate 50 to

150 passengers for use in the Philippines.

Jowie D. Witongco, III, President

PROSPEC USA

909-428-2028 voice

909-428-8200 fax

PROSPEC-USA@webtv.net

[Fast Ferry International in Eng-

land is the premier source of the informa-

tion you asked for (they publish an

annual directory issue of their magazine,

and they also sell a computer database of

the same information but with more de-

tail). You may be able to find the FFI di-

rectory in a library such as at a university

with marine-related programs. The data-

base covers operators, builders, and in-

dividual vessels. FFI�s internet address

is info@fastferry.co.uk. Their phone is

+44 1580 766960. Their mailing address

is FFI, Milrose House, Sayers Lane; Ten-

terden, Kent TN30 6BW; UK. Their home

page on the World Wide Web is

http://www.fastferry.co.uk (you can or-

der the database on line using a credit

card). -Ed]

I am looking for a source of infor-

mation on commercial hydrofoil craft

(manufacturers, operators, etc.) I would

like to know whether craft the size of fer-

ries are available, and whether they can

be used for short trips (100 miles or less)

down the Atlantic seaboard line.

D. Lerman

DLermanW@aol.com

[See info on FFI above -Ed.]

Mechanical Stabilizer

I�ve come across an interesting

mechanical device for stabilizing sub-

merged foils on small craft. It consists of

a weighted pendulum that, of course,

swings on a pendulum and turns a bell

crank to kick foils up and down. Any

knowledge of such a thing? I�d appreci-

ate a reply from any who could even

speculate on this.

Evan Riddle

ERiddle229@aol.com

The concept of using a pendulum

to control port and starboard foils to

make a coordinated turn was tried when

mechanical control systems were being

studied. I think the experimenter was

Gordon Baker. The whole concept of me-

chanically controlled foil systems was in

due course overtaken by the use of elec-

tronic systems. I don�t know of any at-

tempt to control foils longitudinally in a

seaway with a pendulum.

Bob Johnston

Whither the Hydrofoil Market?

I�m personally a bit pessimistic

for hydrofoils in government or commer-

cial fields. It seems as though various

competing transportation technologies

have diminished the advantages of the

foilborne crowd. USS PEGASUS

(PHM-1) was a wonderful ship, but the

acquisition and maintenance costs would

have scaled very badly in comparison to

RO-RO and SWATH ships... or

chunnels. SESs offered some advantages

over hydrofoils, and they too have fallen

to the same factors. This isn�t to say that I

feel hydrofoils are doomed, merely

searching for the wrong market.

There was one pleasure craft man-

ufacturer in Newport Beach, Ca. that

produced the DynaFoil (from the com-

pany of the same name) and I remember

sitting of the back of one and zipping

across Mission Bay passing up the

Glaspar ski boats in 1976. For $2,700 it

was hard to beat, but Kawasaki had a

better sales machine for the Jet Skis.

Page 8 IHS Spring 1997

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continued on Next Page

Yamaha demonstrated an OU-32,

which was a fully enclosed, two-man hy-

drofoil and it appeared on, I believe, “Be-

yond 2000" [a television series on the

Discovery channel]. That was the epit-

ome of the personal hydrofoil, lacking

only automated height control. This is

the market where hydrofoils might best

be pushed for adoption Price/perfor-

mance in this area are more nearly com-

parable with other personal water craft

vs. military vessels and large fast trans-

ports. I just wish that Yamaha had really

released the OU-32. There were rumors

out of Australia, then silence. I still have

a video clip of it.

Carl Allison

Carl.Allison@quickmail.llnl.gov

I am quite certain that Yamaha

never put a hydrofoil into production.

Several Japanese companies evaluated

the use of hydrofoils along with other

high speed marine vehicles. Hitachi, who

built Supramar designs PT.20 and PT.50,

and Kawasaki, who built their version of

the Boeing-designed Jetfoil, were the

only major Japanese companies building

in production quantities. Mitsubishi and

Mitsui seriously considered building

production hydrofoils. Sumitome Heavy

Industries Ltd did build three Italian-de-

signed Sparvieros for the Japanese Mari-

time Self Defense Agency.

Bob Johnston

Do It Yourself

I am currently thinking of building

a small 2 man craft capable of traveling

through the afternoon chop of Peconic

Bay on Long Island. I work with alumi-

num, and have access to CNC Router and

many other shop tools. Please contact me

if you could help.

Chris Marotta

WCREEK@msn.com

[If you are thinking of an engine-

powered hydrofoil, you can get plans and

components for this project from Hydro-

foils, Inc. PO Box 6006; Lake Worth FL

33466; 561-964-6399 voice or fax. If a

sail boat is what you have in mind, you

may want to contact David A Keiper of

Williwaw fame: DAK Hydrofoils; 123

South Pacific Street; Cape Girardeau

MO 63703 USA, phone: 573-651-6582,

email: dvpw98e@prodigy.com, web

page: http://www.igateway.net/~dakh. If

anyone in Europe desires this info, your

point of contact is Claus-Christian

Plaass (plaass@ki.comcity.de) -Ed]

Please Send a Check

I am glad to have found your site

and will be applying for membership. I

have for several years, been very inter-

ested in designing, discussing, and build-

ing a prototype. I am looking forward to

meeting your members and learning

more about the organization.

Bill Hodge

bill.hodge@daytonoh.ncr.com

Joining From England

I am interested in joining. Do you

take credit cards? Have you any mem-

bers in England?

Malin Dixon

malin@onspec.co.uk

[At last count we had an even

dozen members in England, not that

many when you consider that the IHS be-

gan there over 25 years ago through the

efforts of a retired Royal Navy officer

CDR Mark Thornton and a transplanted

South African, Countess Juanita

Kalerghi. IHS headquarters moved to the

United States in 1987. As for how to pay

for membership, which costs $20 annu-

ally in US currency, that occasionally

presents inconveniences. Unlike many

other, more commercially organized

(and more expensive) professional soci-

eties, we are not set up to accept credit

card orders or checks in currency other

than US dollars. In either case, bank fees

and surcharges would eat up a large part

of the $20. Like his predecessor, our cur-

rent treasurer shows no inclination to

change to a more customer friendly pol-

icy... and it is hard to argue with his eco-

nomics. Many overseas members simply

obtain a US$20 bill (cash) from their

bank and mail it in. So far none has been

lost in the PO. Other people have friends

or associates in the US who pay for them

and are later reimbursed. Still others

have business in the US and pay when

they are here, sometimes for a couple of

years at a time. If none of these methods

suits you, then by all means go ahead and

send a check for the equivalent of $US20

with perhaps a bit extra to feed the vora-

cious banking system. -Ed.]

Nigg Flying Fish

My interest in hydrofoils began

with a number of pounding rides on the

Mobile Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and estuar-

ies. Like my grandfather�s mutterings:

“...there�s gotta be a better way than

this”..., as he trudged rutted roads in a

mule-drawn buck-board wagon, I

pleaded for relief from the pitfalls of wa-

ter travel: rough ride, slow speed, and

high fuel consumption. My rediscovery

of hydrofoiling, (we thought they were

hot back in Junior High), has taken hold

and has not yet let go.

Powered craft were my first expe-

rience. Planing boats were too rough and

displacement hulls too slow. Both re-

quired constant attention to fuel levels.

Sailing vessels seemed an answer.

I didn�t mind the light airs, as

these vessels will move until better

winds are found. I did not care for maxi-

mum hull speeds of only six knots on bal-

lasted keels or the tendency for

center-boarders to fall over. Budget con-

straints would not allow large fast boats

of sail or power. Then I saw the

Ketterman Tri-foiler on “Beyond 2000.”

IHS Spring 1997 Page 9

Continued on Next Page

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

I frantically sought this and other sailing

foilers out from every corner of the

globe, but I�ve found surprisingly little.

What I did find is the Flying Fish. The

designer, Mr. Nigg sent me blueprints on

the sailing canard hydrofoil. It has no

moving parts for incidence control save

for the pilot�s weight shift to keep the ca-

nard rudder-foil in trim. Mr. Nigg assures

me that the craft is well designed for its

purpose and offers a platform on which

to develop further.

Many aerospace concerns have a

wealth of information on wings in

ground effect and pivoted airfoils that

vary in incidence but maintain a constant

angle of attack. Hang glider wings have

been attached to small sailboats. Rigid

wing designers have made inroads to-

wards safe and efficient service. Com-

puters allow for more advanced,

automatic control systems that more

aptly could be called ‘hydronics� (a deri-

vation of ‘avionics�). As always, the ma-

rine and aerospace communities can use

information gleaned from experimenta-

tion and experience to the advantage of

both. The coming century begs for fast,

fuel efficient means of travel. With naval

architects still wrestling with a centuries

old concept of sailing yacht, it would be

refreshing to see a turn to foil-stabilized

platforms. Comments are welcome.

Evan Riddle

165 Pinehill Dr.

Mobile AL 36606

ERiddle229@aol.com

Volga 70

I own a Russian-built 1974 Volga

70 hydrofoil. I�m looking for info on this

boat if anyone can help. The old girl was

imported from Russia (so the story goes)

by some businessmen who were doing

some engineering work (?) over there,

but didn�t want to be paid in rubles. They

took stuff like these hydrofoils, tractors

etc. instead. They are really an amazing

machine. About 28 ft long by just over 6

ft. wide, it has a riveted magnesium /alu-

minum alloy hull with stainless steel

foils. The front foil has two levels of

blade, and the rear has a single level. The

hull has steps to reduce drag. It has an

open passenger area with 6 removable

seats, and there are watertight bulkheads

between the bow section /passenger sec-

tion /and engine compartment. It is pow-

ered by a 6 cyl. 106 hp Volvo diesel

driving through a Volvo leg with an 8

inch extension in it. Once she�s flying,

fuel consumption drops way down (be-

cause the hull isn�t pushing water) to

about 2-3 gallons/hour @ 28 knots. Try

that with a Bayliner!

She weighs about 3,500 lbs., and I

think the payload is around 1,500 lbs. I

have estimated the weight / payload / fuel

consumption ratio to be about the same

as an old chevy 1/2 ton pickup. While it

was built as a river boat, it was also ad-

vertised as being seaworthy in about a

force 2 sea, which doesn�t sound all that

seaworthy on the ocean. I�ve had it out in

some pretty big seas and, although it

won�t “fly” in anything over a 2 ft. sea, its

amazingly stable even in the short 5 ft.

waves, due to the foils acting as keels.

Rick Jackson

Box 111

Gabriola, B.C., Canada, VOR-IXO

gabfire@mail.island.net

Nizhnyi Novgorod Shipyards

You asked about the Gorki Ship-

yard, builder of Meteor class hydrofoil

ferries. Meteors were created at

“TSentral�noe konstruktorskoe byuro po

sudam na podvodnykh kryl�yakh im. R.

E. Alekseeva” (and maybe other struc-

tures around “Krasnoye Sormovo” plant)

and produced at Zelenodol�skiy Ship-

yard and probably at “Volga” Shipyard.

I think production of Meteors is

suspended. Other hydrofoil ships (“ships

on the underwater wings” = “suda na

podvodnykh kryl�yakh”) and “air-cav-

ern” vessels are made (business-class

boats mainly). Web page is: http:// www.inforis.nnov.su/n-nov/yarmarka/nnregion/prom.html.e (The Industrial Potential of

Nizhny Novgorod Region). The page is

in Russian, but suffix “.e” dynamically

transliterates it to English alphabet. See

also “Krasnoye Sormovo” and AO

“SOKOL” there and also at http:// www.unn.runnet.ru/nn/industry/sokol/main.htm.You can grab phone numbers for the vari-

ous shipbuilding enterprises in Nizhny at

http://black.inforis.nnov.su/infobase/yel-low/yellow.w(Russian). To search further,

use the Russian search engine at http://www.rambler.ru.

Michael Poliakov

polk@inforis.nnov.su

Page 10 IHS Spring 1997

Continued on Next Page

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

Photo From Volga 70 Promotional Brochure — “Amazingly Stable”

PT 150 Lives

IHS Spring 1997 Page 11

Here is a photo of a phantom! By

this, I refer to “Back to the Future” in the

IHS Newsletter [Winter 96 - 97, p. 15]. I

was a little disappointed to read such a

mistake as “the PT 150 was never built”

in such a fine paper. As you can see by the

photos, the vessel was fully materialized,

and this as a car carrying vessel! (Note

the movable ramps in the aft end of the

superstructure). However it is correct,

that the vessel never did carry cars on any

ordinary trip, as the aft compartment of

the superstructure was convertible from

car space to passenger saloon and vice

versa, and that from the first day of sail-

ing this compartment was in passenger

layout. Due to the big weight increase of

the vessel as built compared to the design

weight, it never became realistic to carry

cars, and the aft ramps were removed.

This conversion was carried out before

the summer of 1971.

The maiden voyage of the vessel,

Expressan (later renamed Prince of the

Waves) took place the June 24, 1968, and

the vessel was running the Göteborg -

Frederikshavn route that summer. You

can find a description of the vessel and

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

The car loading ramps shown in thephoto above were later removed. The

greater than planned as-built weight ofthe PT 150 DC made it impractical to

carry vehicles in addition to passengers.

the maiden voyage in Hovering Craft

and Hydrofoil (a forerunner for Fast

Ferry International) Sep 1968 and FFI

July-Aug 1993.

Two more PT 150 DC�s were de-

livered in passenger-only layout for 250

passengers, Queen of the Waves deliv-

ered Oct 1970 and Princess of the Waves

delivered in the spring of 1971 (I am

building a model of Queen of the Waves

in scale 1:40). Like the Expressan, the

two additional vessels were built by

Westermoen Hydrofoil A/S in Norway.

The vessels had a vagrant life

(please see the above mentioned FFI

July-Aug 93), and were all three put in

service on the Copenhagen-Malmö route

in the period 1972-76. I can tell you, that

it was a very impressive view, when

these vessels passed foilborne through

the outer harbor of Copenhagen!

If you want more information on

the PT 150 DC hydrofoils (or other high

speed vessels in this area), please contact

me, and I will try to help you the best I

can. We really have a lot of experience

concerning high speed passenger vessels

in this corner of the world, with more

than 100 vessels set in service in Scandi-

navia (especially in Norway and Den-

mark) since 1960, when the first

hydrofoil, a PT 50 Sirena, was put in ser-

vice between Sweden and Finland.

Sren Struntze

Frederiksdalsvej 128

DK 2830 Virum

DENMARK

[We meant to say that the PT 150

as actually built and put into service did

not carry cars, but that is not how it came

out in print... ouch! -Ed..]

The PT 150 DC Expressan by Westermoen Hydrofoil in Mandal Norway 1971.

The Letters To the Editor sec-

tion allows hydrofoilers to ask for or

provide information, to exchange

ideas, and to inform the readership

of interesting developments. All are

invited to participate.

Fast Food

The first Poti-built Kometa hydro-

foil has been turned into a cafeteria in

downtown Poti on the Black Sea close to

the Turkish border (per letter from Tim

Timoleon in May 95).

Martin Grimm

Page 12 IHS Spring 1997

MEMBER NEWS

Karl Duff of Port Orchard,

WA wrote a note: In February

1997, after a long delay, the Wash-

ington State Ferries were protected

by a decision by the State Trans-

portation Department in prohibit-

ing private fast-ferry competition

from the Horluck Ferry Service.

They had requested a license to op-

erate to Seattle from three west

Puget Sound terminals.

Roger Gallington of Des

Moines WA, recently reported: On

February 16th, Philip Chesley and

I took turns operating our 15-foot

hybrid hydrofoil test craft on Lake

Washington. The fully submerged

foil supported 95% of the weight.

Along with John W. Ward, we have

formed a 3-person “sweat equity”

corporation (GAL, Inc.) to develop

this hybrid which combines a

fully-submerged hydrofoil with a

stepped planing monohull. The

craft is naturally stable, very

strong, and has no underwater

hinges or other mechanisms. Over

the next months we plan to maneu-

ver the craft at heavier weights and

higher speeds in rougher water.

Bob Johnston recently

(April) reported that he had re-

turned from the hospital after an

operation followed by a week of re-

covery. He is doing well and after

several weeks of taking it easy, he

promises that he will be back on the

golf course ready to challenge Tiger

Woods! We all wish him well, and a

speedy, full recovery.

MEMBER PROJECTS

IHS member Don Burg, president

of Air Ride Craft, Inc.,Miami FL brought

us up to date on his project to build a 52

foot demonstrator of his patented

Seacoaster. Don�s design promises im-

proved ride characteristics in rough wa-

ter compared to a standard Surface Effect

Ship.

Don explains that, “the standard

SES consists basically of a catamaran

hull with fore and aft flexible seals, each

seal running between the side hulls.

Blowers generate pressurized air into the

cavity thus formed. The air cushion

within the cavity supports 80 to 90% of

displacement. Efficiencies and load car-

rying capabilities of the SES at moderate

HYDROFOIL

BLOWER

DISCHARGE

to high speeds are outstanding compared

to conventional hulls and catamarans.

Unfortunately, the forward cushion is se-

verely affected by waves, causing degra-

dation in ride qualities and a notable

increase in resistance in moderate to

heavy seas.”

As shown in the sketch above, the

Seacoaster is a pure catamaran,

non-flexible seal SES design, which Don

has patented internationally. The air

cushion cavities are molded into the hulls

and are relatively unaffected by rough

water. A small hydrofoil between the

side hulls forward insures good pitch

damping to improve the ride even fur-

ther, but at a cost of increased drag. Bob

The Seacoaster air cushions are molded into the twin hulls as shown

Model of proposed 55 knot, 600 pas-

senger Seacoaster ferry

reports that he has recently model tested

and is satisfied with a retractable hydro-

foils located within the air cushion areas.

This will replace the fixed foil shown in

the sketch. The retractable foils reduced

pitch motion in rough water by about

half, with an increase in drag of about

8%.

Don reports that the demonstra-

tor�s hull is finished, and he is moving

ahead to obtain and install the engines.

He plans to have the craft in the water for

sea trials in about three months. He is

marketing his craft as suitable for pas-

senger ferries and offshore gambling

boats in lengths up to 150 ft. Looking to

the future, he can envision a 180 ft ver-

sion open ocean ferry operating between

Miami and Havana, and even a 700+ ft

trans-oceanic Seacoaster freighter!

Don may be reached by email at

seacoast23@aol.com or by land mail at

NEW IHS HOME PAGE NEW

The IHS home page on the

Web has moved. The new URL is:

http://www.erols.com/foiler

IHS Spring 1997 Page 13

HYDROFOIL NEWS DIGEST

Continued on Next Page

AUSTRALIAN YARDSCONTINUE TO DOMINATE

WORLD MARKET

Fast Ferry Int�l, Jan-Feb 1997)

If there was doubt lingering in

anyone�s mind about just how important

the fast ferry industry is to Australia in

general, and Western Australia in partic-

ular, they should consider figures pro-

duced for the Western Australian

Shipbuilders Association in the middle

of 1996. According to these, in 1995 light

weight shipbuilding in Australia pro-

duced 30% by value of the world market,

with Western Australia claiming 60% of

the country�s share and Tasmania taking

35%. The remainder is accounted for by

Queensland (3%) and South Australia

(2%). In stark contrast, Australia�s con-

tribution to shipbuilding in general was

minimal; the country produced a mere

0.5% of the world�s vessels by value and

0.025% by gross registered tonnage.

The prize is well worth having.

During the 12 months to June 30 1996

light weight shipbuilding was worth

A$196 million to Western Australian

yards, and the total is continuing to grow.

Forecasts, based on secured contracts,

anticipate that the figure will nearly dou-

ble, to A$381 million, in the correspond-

ing period of 1996-1997 while

employment will rise 40% to just over

2,000 workers. By June 1999, the yards

anticipate that total production will be

worth A$619 million, and they will have

over 2,500 employees and contractors.

The 1,433 employed in June 1996 repre-

sents an increase of 385 over June 1995.

Of these, 35% were on direct contracts

with the yard and 65% were contractors.

The report notes, “The industry

suffers from shortage of skilled labor, re-

flected in the high number of apprentices

and trainees – almost 20% of the work

force. 93% of all apprentices and trainees

are engaged in trade areas of hull con-

struction, engineering and fit out.

“The industry utilizes a predomi-

nantly contract labor force. This allows

shipbuilders the flexibility required to

maintain productivity in a highly com-

petitive international industry.”

Ferries and cargo vessels ac-

counted for 86% of total production.

Work/charter vessels and luxury motor

yachts accounted for 5% each and fishing

vessels for just 4%.

In the 12 months to June 96, 84%

of the Western Australian light weight

shipbuilding industry�s production was

for export, 13% was for WA customers

and 3% was for customers elsewhere in

Australia. Even the figure of 13%, the re-

port points out, was “abnormally high

due to the construction of two large fer-

ries for the Fremantle to Rottnest Island

tourist trade and a large river cruise ves-

sel to operate on Swan River.”

Growth, which has been taking

place over an extended period, has been

helped immeasurably by both state and

federal government support. Despite re-

cent hiccups with the bounty, this contin-

ues to be the case. Active involvement,

not just through direct subsidies or price

support mechanisms, has created a thriv-

ing and expanding center of excellence.

This is particularly noticeable in the de-

velopment of infrastructure and the cre-

ation of a dedicated shipbuilding zone in

Henderson by the state government.

This has made both waterfront and

industrial land available on a commercial

cost recovery basis and has, in partner-

ship with industry, produced basic com-

munal facilities. Moreover, it has, again

in consultation with the shipbuilders,

created a master plan for the future devel-

opment of the Henderson area to accom-

modate the expected growth of the

industry. The plan includes:

• The diversion of major arterial roads

around the estate to provide a more ef-

ficient working environment and im-

proved waterfront access for the

transport of vessels.

• The extension of breakwaters provid-

ing additional protected waterfront

land to industry members.

• The creation of large flooded working

bays to accommodate vessels of up to

300 meters in length.

Relative Value of Western Australian Shipbuilding By Vessel Type

% of Production By Value

Vessel Type 1994 1996 1999

Ferry & Cargo 69 86 93

Fishing 3 4 1

Work/Charter 6 6 1

Luxury Motor Yachts 22 4 5

Source: Western Australia Light Weight Shipbuilding - July 1996

Page 14 IHS Spring 1997

JAPANESE OPERATORADDS SECOND JETFOIL

TO FLEET

(Fast Ferry Int�l, Jan-Feb 1997)

Kyushu Shosen has introduced a

second Kawasaki Heavy Industries Jet-

foil 929-117, acquired from another Jap-

anese operator, on its

Nagasaki-Fukue-Narao route linking

Kyushu and the Goto Islands. The fully

submerged hydrofoil, delivered in 1990

to the Higashi-Nihon Ferry Company as

Unicorn, has been renamed Pegasus 2.

Kyushu Shosen introduced Jetfoil

929-117 Pegasus in the same year. For

the past seven summers, Unicorn has

been in service between Hokkaido and

Honshu on Higashi-Nihon�s Hakodate

Aomon route. It is to be replaced this

year by a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

100m passenger/vehicle monohull that is

due to be delivered in June.

AUSSIES DOMINATE

(Continued From Previous Page)

• The allocation of land for a Marine In-

dustry Technology Park adjacent to

the main shipbuilding precinct.

The first stage of the plan, the con-

struction of a northern breakwater, is

now underway, following the approval of

A$7.6 million funding by the State Par-

liament, and is due for completion by the

end of summer 1997.

In the financial year to June 30

1996, A$3.64 million was invested in

employee training, A$11.8 million in

land and buildings, A$7.0 million in new

plant and equipment, and A$740,000 in

research and development. Investment

of a further A$23.6 million is committed

for the 1997 financial year and over

A$58 million is programmed for

1997-1999.

MARINE LOG PROVIDESNEWS OF INTEREST TO

HYDROFOILERS

The lead story in this newsletter

was reprinted from Marine Log. This

magazine is available free to qualified

members of the maritime community. To

qualify, you need to buy, use, or recom-

mend the types of products and services

offered by Marine Log‘s advertisers. For

more information, contact Marine Log,

345 Hudson St., New York NY 10014,

phone: 212-620-7200.

For users of the internet, the Ma-

rine Log home page on the World Wide

Web is http://www.marinelog.com. Here

you can find information on such topics

as News Updates, US Shipbuilding Con-

4th INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE ON FAST SEA

TRANSPORTATION

FAST ‘97 will take place in Syd-

ney, New South Wales, Australia 21-23

July 1997. FAST ‘97 aims to contribute

to the design, construction, and safe and

economical operation of high speed ma-

rine craft. Every aspect of such craft and

their operations will be examined and

discussed. There will be approximately

110 technical papers presented across

four concurrent sessions. For informa-

tion, contact Baird Publications – FAST

‘97 Conference Secretariat, P.O. Box

460, South Yarra, VIC 3141, Australia;

phone: 61(0)3 9826 8741, fax: 61 (0)3

9827 0704. Send internet email to:

marinfo@baird.com.au.

IHS Membership for fulltime students is only US$2.50per year. If you know people in-terested and eligible, please en-courage them to join now!

BELLA CENTER, COPENHAGEN24th-26th FEBRUARY 1998

CALL FOR PAPERS

We are delighted to issue a Call for

Papers for the l4th Fast Ferry Interna-

tional Conference which will take place

in Copenhagen on 24th - 26th February

1998. We have already received offers of

abstracts of proposed papers from sev-

eral authors, and we are now issuing a

general call for papers to give the maxi-

mum notice for everyone wishing to sub-

mit a title and abstract.

While papers covering all aspects

of the industry will, of course, be wel-

come we are particularly interested in

those covering the topics of vessel oper-

ating experience, new designs and devel-

opments, and safety.

Authors are invited to submit their

titles and abstracts for presentation at the

Conference and are requested to limit

them to 500 words. Abstracts should

reach the organizers no later than July

31st. All authors selected will be in-

formed by September 30th, and com-

pleted papers will be required by

November 30th. In all cases the work

should be original and not have been

published, or offered for publication,

previously.

Abstracts and titles should be sent

to: Giles Clark, Fast Ferry International,

Milroy House, Sayers Lane, Tenterden,

Kent TN30 6BW, UK or email to:

info@fastferry.co.uk.

IHS 25th Anniversary Celebra-

tion/Conference Proceedings

To order a copy of the Proceed-

ings containing a complete collection

of papers presented, send US$18.50

for shipment within the US or $25 for

international shipment to George

Jenkins, Treasurer; 713 S. Overlook

Drive; Alexandria VA 22305 USA.

NEW IHS HOME PAGE NEW

The IHS home page on the World

Wide Web has moved. The new URL is:

http://www.erols.com/foiler

IHS Spring 1997 Page 15

1996 DELIVERIES AND ORDERSFast Ferry Int’l, Jan-Feb 97

Vessel Design Delivered Ordered Total

Catamarans 46 50 96

Foil-Assisted Catamarans 0 2 2

Hovercraft 0 0 0

Hydrofoils 1 0 1

Hydrofoil Catamarans 0 0 0

Monohulls 22 24 46

Surface Effect Ships 0 0 0

SWATHs 0 1 1

Wave-Piercing Catamarans 5 1 6

Totals: 74 78 152

Passenger Ferries Delivered Ordered Total

50-99 seats 2 4 6

100-149 seats 4 1 5

150-199 seats 7 7 14

200-249 seats 9 8 17

250-299 seats 1 4 5

300-349 seats 14 12 26

350-399 seats 5 7 12

400-449 seats 5 5 10

450+ seats 3 10 13

Totals: 50 58 108

Passenger/Vehicle Ferries Delivered Ordered Total

10-49 cars 2 1 3

50-99 cars 2 0 2

100-149 cars 4 4 8

150-199 cars 13 7 20

200-249 cars 1 2 3

250-299 cars 0 3 3

300-349 cars 0 0 0

350-399 cars 2 1 3

400-449 cars 0 0 0

450-499 cars 0 2 2

Totals: 24 20 44

terest here was the overall process and

the fact that Imperatore has done all

the right things to produce a viable,

profitable ferry service.

• A great deal was said about

“intermodalism” and the need to make

intermodal connections simple/effi-

cient. Most examples cited involved

freight movement, but the principles

apply equally to passengers. Any de-

velopments that make intermodal

transfers faster and easier favor fast

marine vehicles because the benefits

of greater speed on the water will be

less likely to be lost through ineffi-

ciencies in port.

• A representative from Washington

State Ferries gave an excellent presen-

tation on their new methodology for

modeling the demand for ferry ser-

vices in the Puget Sound area.

• A Maritime Administration represen-

tative spoke on the USA�s inland wa-

terways as a greatly underused

transportation resource: more than

just barges should be moving on them.

• A currently-ongoing project was de-

scribed to develop fast ferry service on

Narragansett Bay, connecting Provi-

dence and Newport, RI and other

points in the area.

I spoke with people who partici-

pated in panel discussions touching on

marine issues, some of them senior De-

partment of Transportation officials and

House and Senate staff members. They

all professed interest in ferries and

AMVs and gave some thoughts on how

to promote their consideration, and our

AMV workshop committee has been fol-

lowing up on those ideas.

Overall, the Transportation Re-

search Board meetings were interesting

1997 TRB MEETING

(Continued From Page 2)

Page 16 IHS Spring 1997

A major reason for planning the

workshop this spring was the knowledge

that the Intermodal Surface Transporta-

tion Efficiency Act (ISTEA) is up for

reauthorization this year, and it was

thought we could provide useful infor-

mation to legislators and staffs involved

in that process. The original 1991 ISTEA

bill provided US$100M for ferry pro-

jects and had other useful features. AMV

ferries might get a boost if the legislators

knew more about them.

But discussions with House and

Senate staff members involved with

ISTEA have indicated that it is very late

for any new information to influence the

course of that bill. Work began on it a

year ago, and the companies, industry

groups, and states that have a stake in the

outcome have long since acted through

their representatives to try to affect the

parts they care about. In a meeting with a

very active marine industry union lobby-

ist who meets regularly with those in-

volved with the ISTEA bill, a group of us

gained a good impression that the new

ISTEA legislation will at least be reason-

ably good for ferries, even if it does not

deal with AMVs specifically.

A major point made by the con-

gressional staffers was that we should fo-

cus on their industry constituents to

influence legislators and the ultimate

legislation. So we have come back

around almost to where we began, but

with a clearer picture of what should be

done and how, and who should be in-

volved in the workshop. The workshop

has now been scheduled for June 4, 1997

in a Maritime Administration conference

room, and it will focus primarily on the

industry: the operators and builders, and

the companies supporting them. We hope

to show those in the industry where

AMV technology stands and where it is

headed, what alternatives are now avail-

able for use and how they perform, and

how they can approach the problem of

AMV WORKSHOP...

(Continued From Page 7)AMATEUR YACHT RESEARCH

SOCIETY

[Hydrofoil sailors may be inter-

ested to contact AYRS. The following in-

formation is drawn from their web site:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep

ages/Fishwick/ayrs.htm -Ed.]

The AYRS is a UK registered Ed-

ucational Charity dedicated to finding

out how to make yachting better (faster,

more fun, whatever you want it to be).

Our members run from sober sided pro-

fessional yacht designers and builders to

bearded eccentrics full of ideas that they

cannot make work. From our members

have come the modern sailing

multihulls, self-steering gear, sailboards,

a flock of successful sailing hydrofoils,

the World Speed Sailing Record system,

etc. Now people are taking off with

kiteboats and autogyro-sails, and the first

amphibious bicycle!

Membership is open to anyone in-

terested in the improvement of yachts

and equipment through research and de-

velopment. The Society publishes a

quarterly newsletter (worth the price of

subscription in itself, IMHO), plus 2-4

single subject (*very* cutting-edge)

booklets per year. Subjects range from

“Natural Aerodynamics” (birds’ wings

and vortex generation/reduction), to

“Self Steering,” to “21st Century

Multihulls.” Subjects generally run

about 3:1, high tech:cruising subjects.

We hold 4-6 meetings each winter in the

UK (usually West London), and an an-

nual meeting in the NE United States.

Associated with the AYRS is a free email

discussion group, open to non-members

as well as members, but non-members

will not be sent the new publications.

[For membership info visit the

AYRS home page or contact Michael

Ellison, AYRS, Pengelly House, Wilcove,

Torpoint, Cornwall PL11 2PG England,

phone: +44 (1752) 812 003, email:

100341.3637@compuserve.com. -Ed.]

HOW HYDROFOILERS KEEP FIT

TRAMPOFOIL® is a hu-

man-powered hydrofoil with flapping

wing propulsion. This water bike is pro-

pelled without any engine, sails, or oars.

The TRAMPOFOIL® gets its support-

ing and propelling force completely from

the hydrodynamic lift on its hydrofoils.

The waterbiker jumps with both feet to-

gether and pushes the hydrofoil alter-

nately up and down. The waterbike is

started and landed on a jetty (or a boat).

To start, the waterbiker has to reach 2.5

m/s (5 kn) by pushing out from the jetty.

According to the manufacturer, it is easy

to learn, and after some practice the

waterbiker can land safely on the jetty.

The trained athlete can race in distances

up to 6 km. The speed achieved in calm

conditions over longer distances is

around 3.5 m/s (7 kn). The max speed

over 50 m is around 5.5 m/s (11 kn).

For more information, contact

TRAMPOFOIL AB, Box 5341, 102 47

Stockholm, Sweden, phone: +46-8-665

10 07, E-mail:staff@trampofoil.se

IHS Membership for fulltime students is only US$2.50per year. If you know people in-terested and eligible, please en-courage them to join now!

Students

Wanted

LETTERThe NEWSInternational Hydrofoil Society

P. O. Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818 USA

Editor: Barney C. Black Co-Editor: John R. Meyer

Why Not More High-Speed Ferries in the USA?

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

(SNAME) Panels on Advanced Marine Vehicles and Maritime Eco-

nomics, The International Hydrofoil Society, and The United States

Hovercraft Society held a workshop Advanced Marine Vehicles (AMVs)

For The United States Intermodal Transportation System on June 4, 1997

at the US Department of Transportation, Washington DC. There were

55 attendees. The objectives were to present the AMV state-of-the-art;

to foster interest from shipbuilders, owners/operators, and investors in

fast ferries; and to contribute to the creation of a national strategy for

developing fast ferries as a component of the USA�s intermodal trans-

portation system.

AMVs include fast monohulls, catamarans (including

wave-piercer and SWATHS), hydrofoils, surface effect ships, and air

cushion vehicles. Dramatic advances in design and performance in re-

cent years, and steady increases in size, have greatly expanded their

range of appropriate employment. AMVs have proven their depend-

ability and safety — and their economic viability — as ferries in Europe

and the Pacific Rim. US ferry operators and transportation planners

have begun to consider AMVs, and a few operators are already acquir-

ing them. The reauthorization process for ISTEA (Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act) this year, called NEXTEA, has focused

additional attention on AMVs.

SUMMER 1997

IHS HOME PAGE

The URL for IHS’s home page is:

http://www.erols.com/foiler. If

you are not a web surfer but are curious

about the home page, IHS can provide

you with a hard copy printout on request.

AMV WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

If you want a package containing a

copy of each paper presented at the June

1997 AMV Workshop, please send a

check, to cover printing, handling and

mailing, for US$10.00 made out to the

IHS at PO Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818

USA.

INSIDE...

� President’s Column (2)

� Miami Shipbuilding (3)

� Russia’s Legacy (5)

� One Oar (7)

� Letters to the Editor (8)

� News Digest (13)

� The Air Chair (16)See AMV Workshop, Page 11

IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS

foiler@erols.com

Special IHS Report...

ADVANCED MARINE VEHICLE

WORKSHOP TARGETS USA

By John R. Meyer

Page 2 IHS Summer 1997

WELCOME TO NEWMEMBERS

Dr. Samuel Bradfield is from

Melbourne Beach FL where he is

President of Hydrosail, Inc. He has

been involved with sailing hydro-

foil systems since 1977. During that

time he has designed, developed

and fabricated a number of hydro-

foil sailboats. His e-mail address is

hydrosail@aol.com, for our read-

ers who would like additional info.

Weimin Hu is a naval archi-

tect and structures engineer at

Maritime Applied Physics Corp. in

Laurel MD. He obtained his BS de-

gree in Naval Architecture and

Ocean Engineering at Shanghai

Jiaotong University, Shanghai,

China, and his MS degree in Ocean

Engineering at Florida Tech. He is

a Ph.D. candidate of Structural En-

gineering in the Aerospace and

Ocean Engineering Department at

Virginia Tech. He worked as a Na-

val Architect for two years in China

and as an engineer for one year at

the American Bureau of Shipping.

Richard Jackson is the

proud owner of a 1974 VOLGA 70

Russian-built 28 foot hydrofoil. See

the Spring 1997 issue of the IHS

Newsletter (page 10) for more info.

Richard D. Jones heads up

Wilderness Systems in High Point

NC for design and manufacture of

hydrofoil sailboats. He has joined

forces with Dr. Sam Bradfield to

produce his design which is

planned for early 1998.

Dr. Daniel Savitsky has spent

nearly 50 years in marine research

and teaching with emphasis on

high speed marine craft. He was

initially employed by the Edo Cor-

I hope that all of our members will

have noticed the improvements, avail-

ability of additional services, and in-

creased activity of the Society over the

past several years. This has occurred as a

result of a “labor of love” on the part of

the Society Officers, the Board of Direc-

tors members, and others.

The IHS Newsletter itself is a

shining example of this, and is due to

Barney Black and the many hours he de-

votes of his private “family time” to edit-

ing and composing this much improved

publication. He has also found time to

put the Society on the “Web.” The IHS

Home Page is continuously being im-

proved. The text will soon be enhanced

by an album of hydrofoil pictures which

have been scanned from old and new

photographs. We plan to annotate each

picture with a short description of its

characteristics and history. Also many of

the interesting stories that have been

published in past issues of the Newsletter

are being uploaded to the Home Page.

Many of these are the series of great hy-

drofoil yarns as told by Bob Johnston.

Also the PHM history will be included,

along with Helmut Kock�s stories (and

eventually pictures of his hydrofoil de-

velopments). All members are encour-

aged to “log on” from time to time to see

the latest additions.

A fallout of the Home Page is the

vast amount of electronic mail being

generated. This has put even a greater

work load on Barney Black, who distrib-

utes questions, queries, requests for free

Newsletters, etc. to various members in

the Society who can help respond. I am

pleased to report that the E-mail part of

the job is being taken over by Ralph

Patterson. He has agreed to administer

IHS E-mail in the future and keep track

of who does what in response. IHS Sec-

retary Ken Spaulding has been sending

out responses to the regular mail and

E-mail requests for sample Newsletters

and other information. Of course, he

sends along an IHS brochure with an in-

vitation to join the Society at the same

time. It is through the Home Page that the

Society is expanding its membership,

with a growth rate of about 14 the first six

months of this year.

A highlight of recent IHS activi-

ties is its participation in the Advanced

Marine Vehicles Workshop in Washing-

ton DC on June 4. The Workshop fol-

lowed about eight months of planning on

the part of the three sponsoring organiza-

tions including the IHS. William

Hockberger played a major role in its

planning and also presented an interest-

ing paper on Choosing the Right Ferry.

Please see the feature article on page 1

for more details, and the note about or-

dering a copy of the Workshop Proceed-

ings.

John R. Meyer

President

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Continued on Next Page

IHS Member Rick Jones teamed withDr. Sam Bradfield to produce this hy-drofoil sailboat due out in early 1998

IHS Summer 1997 Page 3

By Robert J. Johnston

After graduating from MIT in

1948, I was assigned to the New York

Naval Shipyard, where I engaged in con-

verting the Essex Class aircraft carriers

from piston aircraft to jets. After two

years in Planning and Estimating, I be-

came the Design Officer for the lead de-

sign of these conversions. All indications

were that I was headed for a naval career

in aircraft carriers. In 1952, I was being

transferred to the the aircraft carrier type

desk at the Bureau of Ships when I got a

call from CAPT Cliff Grimes. I had

worked for him in New York, and he was

now Assistant Chief of the Office of Na-

val Research. He said, “Johnny, how

would you like to be the US Navy�s Hy-

drofoil Project Officer?” I responded,

“Cliff, I don�t know what you are talking

about.” He answered “Look it up, you are

it.” With that, I was off to Washington

DC to be the Hydrofoil Project Officer in

the Office of Naval Research.

My assignment was a rather rude

awakening as to the workings of the Re-

search and Development (R & D) world

of the US Navy. What I had assumed was

to be a technical assignment was fore-

most a diplomatic one. The US Navy had

never taken hydrofoils seriously in spite

the German navy�s achievements in

World War II. Dr. Vannevar Bush, scien-

tific advisor to President Truman, had a

major input to the Navy�s R & D budget.

Based on some erroneous data, he had

concluded that in any future European in-

volvement the Navy needed hydrofoils

for rapid transits to Europe and to avoid

the growing menace of the submarine.

Dr. Bush had obtained funds to

build a destroyer size hydrofoil, and had

founded Hydrofoil Corp. in Annapolis

MD to undertake the necessary hydrofoil

R & D. Gibbs and Cox was the design ac-

tivity, and Bath Iron Works was to be the

builder. The Navy recognized that the

project was not practical, creating a di-

lemma for the development team, who

had to keep Bush in the Navy�s corner

and not upset the Navy�s entire R & D

budget. In fact, the Navy had classified

the hydrofoil program to avoid divulging

what many considered was a total waste

of money. My orders were to report to Dr.

Bush once a week and keep him in-

formed of the Navy�s hydrofoil activi-

ties.

With this introduction to my new

assignment, I began to explore the over-

all Navy hydrofoil program. It was much

broader than the Bush destroyer project.

The Bureau of Aeronautics was inter-

ested in using hydrofoils to improve

landing operations of seaplanes. Gordon

Baker and the University of Minnesota

were studying Vee foils. Bill Carl was

pursuing a high speed vehicle of interest

to naval aircraft applications. Miami

Shipbuilding Corporation (MSC) had

made an arrangement with Christopher

Hook, an eccentric British hydrofoiler,

who had developed a submerged-foil

craft controlled by surface feelers. Work

was underway to develop an electronic

automatic control system for a sub-

merged foil system at Gibbs and Cox.

The consensus of this hydrofoil commu-

nity was that despite the impracticality of

Dr. Bush�s destroyer plans, there was

still an opportunity for the program to

provide high speed naval capability in

rough seas.

NEW MEMBERS

(Continued From Previous Page)

Continued on Next Page

poration where he designed float

type alighting gear for water-based

aircraft. He then joined the Na-

tional Advisory Committee for

Aeronautics (NACA), where he

performed basic research on the

hydrodynamics of seaplanes. In

1947 he joined the staff of the

Davidson Laboratory at Stevens

Institute of Technology where, in

addition to many other studies, he

developed a methodology for eval-

uating the hydrodynamic perfor-

mance of planing CRAFT. Relative

to his involvement with hydrofoils,

he was associated with the develop-

ment of a hydrofoil ferry using sub-

merged foils with a unique simple

mechanical control system, and

contributed to the development of

SKI-CAT, a catamaran craft sup-

ported by a submerged high aspect

ratio hydrofoil aft and planing hy-

dro-skis at the bow. This craft was

extensively tested by the US Navy.

He retired as Director of the

Davidson Laboratory in 1989 and

is currently Professor Emeritus at

Stevens Institute of Technology.

Dan continues to be professionally

active in many aspects of hydrody-

namics.

Thomas Wuhrmann is an in-

dependent photographer in Stans,

Switzerland, where he and his

brother own a Photo-Agency spe-

cializing in local news, railways,

ships, and other subjects. His fa-

ther was Chairman of the

Waser-Shipyard in Stansstad, who

built the first post-war von Schertel

Hydrofoil Pioneers...

THE RISE AND FALL OF MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

Part One — The Rise

IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS:

foiler@erols.com

Page 4 IHS Summer 1997

Continued on Next Page

With the Korean invasion, the

Navy became concerned about the speed

of the amphibious forces to transit from

ship to shore. So the need for higher

speeds for the amphibious craft became a

requirement. To increase the speed of the

LCVP personnel carriers became the

Navy�s first operational requirement for

hydrofoils. An operational requirement

and request for bids was prepared. The

major requirement was for these person-

nel carrier landing craft to become capa-

ble of making 35 knots from ship to shore

rather than the existing 8 knots. The craft

had to be capable of landing on the

beach, but did not require amphibious

operations. To many, the MSC proposal

was a surprise as the most feasible and

technical sound bid submitted. Their pro-

posal won the technical competition

based on the Hook hydrofoil concept

over such other competitors as Gibbs and

Cox, The Hydrofoil Corporation, and

Baker Manufacturing. Negotiations took

place, and a contract was awarded to

MSC to build a full scale hydrofoil

LCVP(H). This contract was later modi-

fied to include a manned scale model

construction and test prior to the full

scale construction. This model was

named the “dα/dt.” It should be noted

that based on the results of Gordon

Baker�s test craft HIGH POCKETS, a

second contract was let to the Baker

Manufacturing Company for construc-

tion of a second LCVP(H) using sur-

face-piercing Vee foils.

With the award to MSC for the

lead in the landing craft program, I

started to spend more time visiting and

working with the MSC technical staff.

This group, headed by Jean Buhler and

including engineering professors from

Miami University, was most impressive

for a small shipyard. Not only were they

a talented group, but they made visits by

Naval personnel very pleasant. After a

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

busy day in the office, an evening meal

together was always a pleasant affair, and

many good ideas were left sketched on

dining napkins. It was through this asso-

ciation that I got to know the Buhler

brothers and their very interesting father,

Emil. In fact, on several occasions I was

invited to attend the daily family meeting

on events of the day that took place with

an evening beverage at Emil Buhler�s de-

lightful and interesting home.

After an eventful two years with

the Office of Navy Research, I was or-

dered to the Bureau of Ships. My time in

ONR had given me the opportunity to

look at hydrofoil activities all over the

world. This included getting to know and

work with all USA hydrofoilers includ-

ing many dedicated and technically

strong government personnel. Also a trip

to Europe was ordered to study the re-

mains of the German WW II effort, to

visit the first commercial operations of a

hydrofoil built by Supramar in Switzer-

land, and to learn as much as we could

about the hydrofoil work that Russia was

doing. Phil Eisenberg accompanied me

on this venture, and Dr. Georg

Weinblum, a former paper clip scientist

at the David Taylor Model Basin who

had returned to Germany and was head of

the School of Naval Architecture at

Hamburg University, was our guide. My

assignment to the Bureau of Ships was a

bit of a disappointment, as I was desig-

nated to work on the landing craft desk.

This would be the type desk to which the

hydrofoils under construction would be

assigned if and when they joined the

fleet. Time and events had passed me by

to return to the world of aircraft carriers.

It was obviously a long time before the

LCVP(H) would be fleet ready. In the

meantime Navy storage spaces were

filled with landing craft which were dete-

riorating. My assignment became one of

preserving these assets for future Naval

needs. Compared with being the hydro-

foil project officer of the U S Navy, this

was not an exciting assignment.

With these thoughts in mind,

along with concern over the family life

with me as a naval officer and the fact

that naval pay was not outstanding, I be-

gan to think about returning to civilian

life. This was a difficult decision as both

my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed navy

life, particularly the group of people, en-

gineering duty officers, with whom we

were working. Several opportunities had

been offered to me to pursue the develop-

ment of hydrofoils, but I had not given

them any serious consideration up to that

time. We finally decided to explore civil-

ian opportunities that had a future poten-

tial. With this I began to inquire and look

at where I might find a future business

home. Several opportunities were pre-

sented to me. Bick Moorman, MSC�s

representative in Washington DC,

learned of my activities and came to me

with an offer of an assignment with

MSC. Studying MSC led me to conclude

that this small shipyard had the potential

to succeed in the hydrofoil world. It had

the capability of building what I foresaw

as the Navy�s future requirements for hy-

drofoil craft and an excellent technical

staff. I considered two other opportuni-

ties: one, with Chrysler Corp., which was

interested in establishing a future hydro-

foil group, and the other with my friend

Bill Carl, who owned Dynamic Develop-

ments on Long Island NY. At that time

Bill�s workload could not really afford

another employee. With that I went to

Miami to visit Paul Buhler, the treasurer

of MSC. Paul was most open with me

and discussed the financial position of

MSC. Financially MSC was not a com-

pletely sound corporation, but the future

prospects were good, and there were no

insurmountable problems. He and his

brother Ted, the president offered me a

position as Vice-President of Engi-

neering with responsibility for the hydro-

foil programs. Jean Buhler said he was

comfortable with my assignment and the

prospect of our working together. After

some serious family discussions, I re-

IHS Summer 1997 Page 5

signed from active duty and joined the

Naval Reserve (I am pleased to be able to

say that after 25 years of service I retired

as a Captain USNR). With this, in the

summer of 1954 I joined MSC.

From my Navy background I

knew that submerged foil systems with

electronic automatic control were the

way of the future. Looking at MSC�s

LCVP(H), my initial plan was to develop

a suitable automatic control system for

the craft. The only other known system at

that time was being developed at MIT for

a Gibbs and Cox runabout. We therefore

decided to develop our own system. We

hired Walter Keller as an electronic de-

veloper to head this effort. We found out

that Ted Rose, a strong technical innova-

tor and well known by the Navy, was

available. He had been Dr. Bush�s Chief

Engineer at the Hydrofoil Corporation

when a borrowed aircraft autopilot had

been installed on their test craft LAN-

TERN. He agreed to join us as Chief En-

gineer and brought in his son Rod, a

bright engineering undergraduate, who

initially worked for us during his sum-

mer vacations. Ted was also able to bring

with him US Navy support for some

study contracts that included retractable,

right angle gear drives and designing

foils for fatigue life that supplemented

our engineering income. We needed a

hydrodynamicist and were fortunate to

lure Ray Wright who had a background

in sea plane development to join us. With

the technical staff complete, full atten-

tion was devoted to making the Navy�s

LCVP(H) program a success. The name

for this craft came from Jean Buhler who

from his friend, Walton Smith, learned of

a long-legged insect found far at sea

called HALOBATES Sericeus.

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

Continued on Next Page

RUSSIA�S LEGACY:VARIATIONS ON A THEME

By David Foxwell

[© 1997, Interavia SA, Switzer-

land. Reproduced with permission, from

Janes International Defense Review

March 1997.]

The Soviet Navy experimented

extensively with several types of ad-

vanced hullforms, leading to a number of

hydrofoils and an SES entering service,

with varying degrees of success.

The MATKA class is a hydrofoil,

but differs from Western hydrofoil de-

signs by having a single, forward, hydro-

foil rather than one forward and one aft.

This missile-armed vessel was first seen

in 1978. It had a hull like that of the

OSA-class monohull and single hydro-

foil forward similar to the TURYA class.

This made it a better sea boat than the

OSA. However, the MATKA class is be-

ing phased out of the Russian fleet, and

all vessels of the class in the Baltic Fleet

were scrapped in 1995.

The TURYA class remains in ser-

vice, but some vessels have had their

foils removed, and many are non-opera-

tional or have been scrapped. The

BABOCHKA-class patrol hydrofoil also

featured the single hydrofoil forward, but

only one remains in service.

Fourteen MURAVEY-class patrol

hydrofoils are in service, but several are

non-operational. Whereas the MATKA

class and its close relatives have a single

hydrofoil forward, the MURAVEY has a

large hydrofoil forward and two smaller

hydrofoils amidships to provide addi-

tional lift.

One of the most recent additions

to Russia�s patrol force is the

DERGACH-class, classified as Guided

Missile Patrol Air Cushion Vessel. These

twin-hulled SES vessels displace around

750 tonnes, are about 65m overall, and

are powered by gas turbines. The two

DERGACH-class vessels, BORA and

SAMUM, were built at the Zelenodolsk

shipyard and were commissioned in

1990 and 1994, respectively. According

to Jane�s Fighting Ships 1995/96 the de-

sign is unreliable, and no more will be

built. As with many classes of ex-Soviet

Navy surface warships it is difficult to

know whether the failure of these vessels

should be attributed to design faults, poor

manufacturing, or the Russian Navy�s

generally moribund state.

They are undoubtedly high-speed

vessels; the BABOCHKA could make 45

kt foilborne, and the DERGACH class an

impressive 58 kt. The Russian gas tur-

bines on most of these fast craft are prob-

ably less reliable than Western models

and consume a lot of fuel. When

foilborne, the foils are noticeably

short-legged and not “sea friendly.”

IHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1995-1998 1996-1999 1997-2000

William M. Ellsworth Jerry Gore Mark R. Bebar

William J. Erickson Jim King William Hockberger

John R. Meyer Mark Rice George Jenkins

Peter Squicciarini Ken Spaulding Ralph Patterson

Page 6 IHS Summer 1997

Continued on Next Page

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

The design work on HALOBATES

was well underway. Jean Buhler�s

knowledge of wooden hull ship design

proved useful in the design of the hull,

particularly the fitting of the bow door.

Retraction of the foils and over-the-stern

drive were particularly difficult. The op-

erational schedule for the design called

for the landing craft to leave the mother

ship with the foils and drive fully ex-

tended and as the craft approached shal-

low water to continue to fly with the

equipment partially retracted. Finally be-

fore hitting the beach all was fully re-

tracted but with craft underway

hullborne. In the meantime the design of

the Hook feelers which controlled the

foils became more cumbersome as they

were scaled up from the test craft. This

put more emphasis on the need to elimi-

nate these feelers for any craft that would

be acceptable to the Navy. In a lab

equipped for development of the auto-

matic control system, a simulator was in-

stalled along with one of the first

computers in Miami. The heat was on the

staff to come up with an acceptable sys-

tem.

In 1957 HALOBATES was com-

pleted and ready for sea trials with its me-

chanical feelers for foil control. Some

time had been lost when the

over-the-stern drive that was designed

and built for us by Cabi-Cattaneo of Mi-

lan, Italy failed its test. Ted Buhler had

gone over to witness these tests and dis-

covered that the completed design would

not retract. The gear train locked up on

retraction. This caused a major modifica-

tion which included having to accept

some bearings with shorter life than we

had initially specified. It also put Senior

Cattaneo in mourning as he had designed

the gear train, and at that time he was one

of the few gear designers who had pro-

duced right angle drives. Anyway, trials

finally got underway in 1957, and

HALOBATES demonstrated 35 kt in

5-foot waves, good banked turning char-

acteristics, and the ability to partially re-

tract and remain foilborne. However any

seaman who looked at the cumbersome

feelers, used that argument to reject the

concept. Fortunately an automatic con-

trol system was ready for installation and

sea trials. The successful trials allowed

the Naval personnel who witnessed them

to visualize a practical naval hydrofoil.

At the same time the Navy became inter-

ested in British developed air cushion ve-

hicles that could transit ship to shore,

then crawl up on the beach. Naval inter-

est in the LCVP(H) waned as the Navy

studied air cushion vehicles as landing

craft. However, a final contract mod al-

lowed HALOBATES to serve as a sea

trial test bed for gas turbine engine. Thus

MSC installed and tested the first gas tur-

bine on a Naval vessel (a Lycoming

T-53).

The successful HALOBATES sea

trials led the US Army to become inter-

ested in applying foils to their landing

craft. Colonel Spears, one of the fathers

of the Army�s DUKW, thought that foils

could increase the sea speed of this vehi-

cle. He and Rod Stevens of Sparkman

and Stevens visited us in Miami, partici-

pated in one of our HALOBATES sea tri-

als, and initiated the contracting process

to get a DUKW flying on foils. This was

to be a MSC project, but — since the

Army foresaw a production contract for

DUKWs on foils and since these were

wheeled vehicles for land operations

—we had to accept the Lycoming Divi-

sion of AVCO as the prime contractor.

They had no hydrofoil experience, so the

initial design, conversion, and sea trials

became MSC�s responsibility.

Our first concern was whether a

DUKW could achieve take off speed

without swamping, and if it could, what

was the power required for take-off? The

Army was willing to loan us a DUKW for

tests if we could provide a ship to tow it

through the speed range of interest. We

got the Navy to make an AKA, which

was a converted DE, available with a full

Navy crew. Trials were scheduled to be

run out of Fort Eustis on Chesapeake

Bay. Jean Buhler designed and made a

dynamometer to measure the drag of the

DUKW, and we were off to tow it to a

speed of about 20 knots.

We arrived at Fort Eustis to find

our DUKW being readied for towing.

Much to our surprise we found the Army

personnel hurrying about with much pa-

perwork. The Navy�s AKA was berthed

at the Fort, and we were assigned berths

on board the ship. Now a little aside:

During WW II, I was in charge of a de-

sign office manned by Naval Officers

and Bluejackets. We were given special

projects that the Navy did not want to put

into civilian design groups. One of our

design projects had been to prepare plans

to convert DEs to AKAs. This project

was primarily redoing the internal ar-

rangement of the DE to provide berthing

and living space for transporting Army

contingents. In redoing the forepeak area

to accommodate troops, we had to put

some of the bunks together than allowed

by Navy design practice, making it very

difficult occupants of these berths to turn

over. When this spacing finally was fi-

nally approved I can remember saying

“Well, I know I shall never have to sleep

there.” Well guess where the berth was

that was assigned to me... one of the “too

close” berths!

Finally all arrangements were

complete, the dynamometer was in-

stalled in the tow rig, and we were ready

to head to sea to conduct the towing tests.

The underway trials lasted about two

days, and we were able to gather the nec-

essary data for the design of the propul-

sion system. To our pleasant surprise the

DUKW planed beautifully, and we got

the craft up to take-off speeds of interest

IHS Summer 1997 Page 7

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

without any swamping. So a delighted

test crew returned the DUKW to Fort

Eustis. To our surprise we were greeted

by unhappy Army personnel. Having as-

sumed that the test craft would be lost

during the towing they had assigned all

unaccountable material for their DUKW

operations to our loaner. Now they had to

undo all that paperwork!

Using the data from the trials and

adapting data from HALOBATES, in-

cluding its autopilot, and using a

Lycoming T-53 gas turbine for main pro-

pulsion, a flying DUKW was designed,

and successful demonstration trials were

conducted in Miami waters. Mel Brown,

a former Navy colleague of mine, was

hired at MSC to be the project manager

for the program. Speeds in excess of 30

kt were demonstrated (compared with

the 5 kt of the conventional DUKW).

Seeing the craft rise from the wa-

ter with its wheels in place was quite a

sight. Our measured mile was along the

Miami Beach Causeway, which had a

road running alongside. I think we

caused some near accidents as drivers

saw this cumbersome vehicle rise from

the sea and come to about the same speed

as they were making in their autos.

With the success of these trials,

the US Marine Corps became interested

in increasing the waterborne speed of

their amphibian vehicles. Later on, the

Lycoming Division of AVCO was to

build LVHX-l based on the hydrofoil

principals demonstrated in MSC�s

Flying DUKW design. Food Machinery

Corp. also built LVHX-2 using sur-

face-piercing foils. MSC did not partici-

pate in these ventures for reasons that are

included in the rest of the story... but that

ONE OAR IN THE WATER

By Dave Culp

[First appearing in AYRS #112]

I’ve built an aerodynamically bal-

anced hydrofoil with automatic 2-axis

control via surface sensors. It flies on a

single foil (the one oar of the title), and

uses aerodynamic elements to supply

3-axis control and overcome both heel-

ing and pitchpoling moments from the

conventional catamaran rig. The basic

boat design is Greg Ketterman’s, de-

signer/ builder of LONGSHOT and

TRIFOILER. My input was to design the

construction details and subsystems and

the actual construction. The foil and

some substructures were built by Larry

Tuttle of Santa Cruz CA, who built the

foils for LONGSHOT and all

TRIFOILER prototypes.

The new boat is powered by con-

ventional soft sails. It is innovative in us-

ing only one hydrofoil; an inverted “J”

foil similar to LONGSHOT’s. The boat

gains 3-axis stability when flying

through use of aerofoil elements. Pitch,

roll, and heave are auto-controlled via

surface sensors, and yaw control is pilot

induced via a bow mounted air rudder.

The boat is a ‘one way’ proa.

Though it sails quite happily on the ‘off’

tack, it can do so only when hullborne.

The pilot sits in the windward ama, fully

24 ft. to windward of the main hull and

rig. The main hull is 22 ft. long (plus an 8

ft. sensor arm) and the boat is 26 ft. wide

(plus 8 ft. overhang at the canard wing)

overall. The masthead is 26 ft. above the

deck and the mainsail (a stock Prindle 16

catamaran main, but set on a beefier

cut-down Prindle 19 mast) is 170 square

feet (sq. ft.). The boat carries an addi-

tional 32 sq. ft.. in the air rudder (jib?),

and 128 sq. ft.. in horizontally mounted

airfoil elements. All aerofoils are sym-

metrical sectioned rigid wings.

Auto Controls

For roll control there is a 4 ft. by 16

ft. wing element, mounted on and free to

rotate about, the cross beam. Its center of

effort is 15 ft. to windward of the main

hull. This wing is actuated by a leading

edge mounted surface sensor on an 8 ft.

arm. This sensor gives the wing a nose up

attitude when hullborne and a nose down

attitude when the windward ama rises

too high. At low speeds, the upward lift

from the wing helps ama lift-off. At

higher speeds, downward lift from the

wing counteracts heeling due to sail

forces. Greg’s VPP program indicates

that best speed (at highest efficiency)

will be achieved when this wing is nomi-

nally not loaded, either positively or neg-

atively. The aerofoil elements aren’t

meant to carry significant load at speed

(too much induced drag). Their main

Continued on Page 10Continued in Autumn 1997!

Lake Lucerne

I enclose my membership applica-

tion. My father was Chairman of the

WASER-SHIPYARD in Stansstad, who

built the first post-war von Schertel hy-

drofoils. The shipyard also built the first

commercial passenger hydrofoil

FRECCIA D�ORO in 1953. The shipyard

was the home of the SUPRAMAR proto-

types for many years. So my father told

me a lot of tales about these famous high

speed boats when I was a child. Unfortu-

nately he died in 1989. In June 1988 I

took my first trip on a hydrofoil boat on

Lake Maggiore, between southern Swit-

zerland and Italy. On this trip, I shot my

first photograph of a hydrofoil. It was the

slow beginning of a fever. I�m not a

sailor, engineer, student or a doctor.

Since 1993, I�m an independent photog-

rapher. My brother and I have our own

Photo-Agency, specialized for local

news, railways, ships, etc. We work also

on commission for companies and pri-

vate people (documentary, advertising,

weddings and many more). We make

also commercials, documentaries, and

cartoons on video and film. You see,

there is no direct connection between my

profession and my passion. In the last

10-12 months, I began a serious search-

ing for any kind of info and photos to

write a book about the hydrofoils on

Lake Lucerne, Central Switzerland.

Thomas Wuhrmann

Bahnhofstrasse 18

CH-6370 STANS

Switzerland

Ode to a WIG

The IHS web site looks great! The

Nigg FLYING FISH may share its name

with several craft. There�s also a German

wing in ground effect craft by the same

name. I�m afraid Donald Nigg�s boat is

one of a kind and purely of his gifted cre-

ativity and stubborn tenacity. I�m trying

to build a wing in ground effect stabilized

by foils and powered by sail because...

If you could make a sailboat floatOn a cushion of air,

You could go as fast as you dare,On a wing and a prayer.

Evan Riddle

ERiddle229@aol.com[Nothing like a bit of versification

from our unofficial hydrofoil poet laure-

ate to add tone! -Ed.]

Power For HERCULES

Accumulation of equipment to put

the [former USS] HERCULES underway

towards Missouri is nearly complete.

The MTU [diesel engines] have been

mated with the original gearboxes, test

run, and are ready to install. Our control

system is the original helm yoke coupled

with the original servo-controlled hy-

draulic actuators via a programmable

logic controller (PLC). This alteration

differs from the original design of resis-

tor networks but in tests has performed

flawlessly. Of course the real test will be

in sea trials. The PLC also takes inputs

from switches at the helm and controls all

engine/gearbox functions as well as in-

puts from the engine monitoring sensors

which are projected on a computer

screen at the helm.

Our research towards foilborne

operation continues. All literature indi-

cates approx. 15,000 hp is required to fly

the ship. This is the power necessary to

bring the ship onto foils at about 30 knots

and then accelerate to 40+ knots. Once

the hull is clear of the water, the drag re-

duction is so significant that the hp re-

quired to sustain foilborne operation at

say 35 knots would be approx. 1/3 of to-

tal power??? Of course the turbine en-

gine will gobble nearly as much fuel at

reduced power setting as at full power.

My question is, (finally): Would it be fea-

sible to link three 5,000 hp turbines to-

gether for take off and operating at full

speed (or high seas) and yet drop 1 or 2

out for cruising in calm sea states at re-

duced speed? Since such a link would re-

quire a clutch of some sort even with a

“free” turbine to keep the unpowered tur-

bine from acting as an air pump (or

would it?), Is there be a way to use linked

turbines (ones which have the output

shaft directly connected to the compres-

sor section)? These turbines are consid-

erably more plentiful and less expensive.

Eliot James

esjames@vax1.rain.gen.mo.us

Three turbines into one pump (as-

suming HERCULES still has the single

ALRC foilborne waterjet) would be

tough. Would need a combining/reduc-

tion gear with three input pinions. His-

torically, such arrangements have not

been successful. Backing off on total in-

stalled hp would also reduce thrust mar-

gin at takeoff in higher sea states/high

temperatures. If HERCULES is operat-

ing at a much lower full load displace-

ment, this may not be that important. Last

issue is complexity. Much simpler plant

with a single LM-2500. Have never

heard of “linking” gas turbines as sug-

gested by Mr. James - I don�t think it�s

feasible. It may be appropriate to check

with turbine manufacturers.

Mark Bebar

Bebar_Mark@hq.navsea.navy.mil

Your President is Not a Crook

The IHS newsletter provided me

some direction for seeking info on a boat

I am currently investigating. I have found

that the boat was imported by Kettenberg

Marine in Oxnard California. They went

out of business in 1978. I am still seeking

data on this boat. An article in the news-

letter noted that an American company

bought ten 6-passenger VOLGA class

Page 8 IHS Summer 1997

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continued on Next Page

hydrofoils back in the 1960s. This may

be the type of boat I�m looking at.

This is what I know now: approx.

length - 25 feet, beam - approx. 6 feet;

fully riveted aircraft aluminum construc-

tion; originally I/O powered by a Volvo 6

cyl. diesel (though there is currently no

engine or drive); various components

have Cyrillic name plates; 6-passenger

interior configuration with three alumi-

num seat frames along each side of the

interior; hull has “stepped” configuration

like a flying boat; built in Finland (or

maybe Russia), and appears to be 1960s

vintage. The boat may have been

“gifted” to Richard Nixon by the Finnish

government. The boat was last registered

in California in 1974 (I am currently in-

vestigating former owners through the

CA. Dept of Motor Vehicles). It sounds

like this boat is a Volga 275.

The boat is in “rotting position” in

a local boat yard with the swamp grow-

ing in it; it looks pretty much, as my wife

commented, like a “piece of [vulgarity

deleted!].” I am thinking of buying this

boat with the idea of restoring the hull

and re-powering it with a modern

big-block and outdrive, or perhaps

retro-fitting it with a modern outboard

mounted to a “sea-drive” with power

trim and a vertically adjustable

jack-plate. Are hydrofoil boats very sen-

sitive to CG location, thrust vector and

relative height? Can you recommend any

texts that will educate me on hydrofoil

theory and design? Before I jump into

this sort of a project, I want to find as

much background data as possible. Any

leads or info would be most appreciated.

Frank Eichstadt

eichstad@spacehab.com

Build It Yourself

I�m interested in designing and

building a high speed single or two seater

hydrofoil and need as much info as I can

get. I�m still in the concept stage and

would like to discuss ideas with other hy-

drofoil designers/builders.

Neil Morris

morrisn@ihug.co.nz

[If you want a motor powered

craft, you can get plans and components

from Hydrofoils Inc.; PO Box 6006; Lake

Worth FL 33466; 561-964-6399 voice or

fax; web: http://www.hydrofoil.com. If

you are talking about a sailing vessel

with hydrofoils, contact DAK Hydrofoils,

123 South Pacific Street, Cape

Girardeau MO 63703, phone:

573-651-6582, (e-mail:

dvpw98e@prodigy.com), (web site:

http://www.igateway.net/~dakh). An-

other contact for sailing hydrofoils is Dr.

Sam Bradfield. He does not have a web

site, but he can be reached at: Prof. S.

Bradfield; Hydrosail, Inc.; 3040 South

AIA Highway # 154 F; Melbourne

Beach FL 32951; hydrosail@aol.com.

-Ed.]

ALAHW

Guten Tag! We are doing lots of

calculations for the Air Lift Aided Hy-

drofoil Waterbike (ALAHW). Besides

using Computational Fluid Dynamics

(CFD) methods for resistance prediction

and optimization programs for wing con-

figurations, we do some work on details.

We know about the difficulties and try to

avoid as many mistakes as we know of.

We have built a CPP to be used on

the boat and tested it on two different

hulls. A special pump driven by the shaft

inside the lower bulb will be controlled

by dynamic pressure to achieve the right

pitch at the right speed. But still there is

the money... I mean no money! I guess

that is the problem for most enthusiastic

waterbike builders. It is a pity that Ger-

man universities do not invest in practi-

cal research by their students.

Claus Abt

abt@cadlab.tu-berlin.de

Hobie TRIFOILER

I suggest that you provide a link to

the Hobie TRIFOILER web page at:

http:// www.paw.com/Sail/hobie/trifoiler.html.It is the best well marketed hydrofoil for

the general public. Also it was difficult to

find your web site. Considering its poten-

tial importance and the purpose of the

Society, perhaps some recoding of the

search engines catalogues could be done.

Harry T. Larsen

Mercer Island WA 98040

[The home page has been revised

to emphasize “hydrofoil” as a key word

and has been re- registered with various

search engines. We are interested to hear

about other experiences good or bad

finding the IHS web site via search en-

gine. The Hobie Tri-Foiler home page

has been added to the IHS “Links Out”

page per your suggestion. -Ed.]

IHS Summer 1997 Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

The Berlin Waterbike Team’s ALAHW(See Letter This Page)

The Letters To the Editor sec-

tion allows hydrofoilers to ask for or

provide information, to exchange

ideas, and to inform the readership

of interesting developments. All are

invited to participate. Opinions ex-

pressed are those of the authors, not

of IHS.

IHS OFFICERS 1997 - 1998

John Meyer President

Mark Bebar Vice President

George Jenkins Treasurer

Ken Spaulding Secretary

Page 10 IHS Summer 1997

ONE OAR IN THE WATER

(Continued From Page 7)

function is to auto-control heeling (and

pitch), allowing the pilot to keep sail

power ‘full on’ and concentrate on

course keeping. Greg credits this

auto-control with his successes with

LONGSHOT. We designed the rest of the

boat’s dimensions and weights around

this parameter. The wing does see both

positive and negative transient loads, of

course, as the boat and pilot respond to

wind and wave. The net design goal,

however, is no lift.

Second, pitch: Greg has come up

with a rather clever approach here. The

main (only) hydrofoil is positioned well

aft on the main hull, under the sail’s cen-

ter of effort. It is aft of the main hull’s

center of gravity, but coincides with the

boat’s overall CG when the ama is flying.

The foil actually carries 98-100% of the

boat’s weight at speed. There is a canard

wing at the bow of the main hull (actually

two wings—one on either side of the

bow—but cross linked to move as one).

The canard’s center of lift is 16 ft forward

of the hydrofoil. This wing is actuated by

a second surface sensor, also on an 8 ft.

arm. (Both sensor arms are somewhat

flexible, to attenuate the sensors’ being

buffeted by small waves).

The hydrofoil is permanently set

at a slight positive angle of attack (it is

also asymmetrical, using a NACA 63 se-

ries low-drag section), but at hullborne

speeds, its lift is insufficient to raise the

boat; also drag is fairly low. The aerofoil

canard has a pre-set positive angle of at-

tack set by the sensor. When boat speed

and thus apparent wind is sufficient for

the canard to lift the hull’s bow (we want

about 12 kt. boat speed and 18 kt. appar-

ent wind speed at this point), the bow-up

hull pitch angle adds to the hydrofoil’s

angle of attack and the hull lifts out. If the

bow rises too high, the sensor calls for a

negative attack angle on the canard and

the bow comes back down. The sensor

thus controls the canard’s attitude, the ca-

nard controls the bow’s altitude (and thus

the hull pitch angle), and the foil slaves

along after, doing all the real work.

The advantages: 1) The highly

loaded main foil doesn’t need to be actu-

ated and is rigidly bolted to the hull. 2)

The main strut is vertical and thus resists

ventilation. 3) Only one surface piercing

strut minimizes spray loss and ventila-

tion sites. 4) Wetted surface is mini-

mized; in this case, exclusive of the

sensors’ ‘footprints,’ wetted area is about

3.73 sq. ft..

Third, yaw: Greg has specified an

air rudder in order to reduce wetted sur-

face and induced hydrodynamic drag.

His VPP shows that aero drag at speed

will be less than hydro drag of an equiva-

lent water rudder.

It is significant that all aerofoil el-

ements are providing minimal lift and

drag at top overall boat efficiency; the

sensors are contributing less than 10% of

the total drag; and designed boat speed is

3.1 times true wind speed (46.8 kt. boat

speed in 15 kt. true wind speed). Lest one

suppose these predictions are extreme, I

note that Greg degraded efficiency fig-

ures from those used for LONGSHOT.

Foil L/D suppositions are from empirical

data taken from in-the-water boats using

very similar foils. A similar VPP run on

LONGSHOT predicted 2.3 times wind

speed at 15 kt. true and the boat has been

measured at 2.5. Greg actually thinks

that these figures are conservative.

Results To Date

First, the boat is heavy. The VPP

supposes the all-up weight with pilot to

be 480 lb., of which 280 is in the ama.

Actual all-up weight is about 555 lb.,

with 290 in the ama. This will surely in-

crease take-off speed and lower top

speed, but very little.

Construction went well. Details

are in my web page: http://www.dnai. com/

~daveculp/speedsl/sheerspeed.html. The

boat is complete and in the water, but

we’ve only managed about 1 1/2 hours of

sailing time this year, and all in winds un-

der 12 kt. The boat has expected teething

problems. The over square (wider than

long) and asymmetrical geometry create

helm balance challenges. The helm

changes quite significantly from port to

starboard tacks and also from hullborne

to foilborne attitude. The boat has not yet

flown and I expect it will need another

season’s tweaking before we get it right.

Nothing has broken yet and the boat sets

up rather easily in about 1-1/2 hours with

ABS ISSUES REVISEDGUIDE FOR HIGH-SPEED

CRAFT

Fast Ferry Int�l Apr 97

A revised edition of its Guide for

Building and Classing High-Speed Craft

has been published by the American Bu-

reau of Shipping. The classification soci-

ety says, “In response to the many recent

changes that have affected this dynamic

sector of the marine industry, ABS has

amended its first Guide, published in

1990, in a major undertaking.

“The result is an enhanced stan-

dard which takes into account advances

in hull forms, material usage and propul-

sion machinery as well as the new IMO

Code of Safety for High Speed Craft. The

revised Guide offers designers, builders

and operators of these specialized craft

the latest technological guidance for

steel, aluminum alloys and fiber-rein-

forced plastic construction.”

The Guide is available in three

volumes. The first details the overall cri-

teria related to design, evaluation and

survey, while the other two contain crite-

ria related to hull and machinery selec-

tion, including joining methods for the

three construction materials.

Continued on Page 16

IHS Summer 1997 Page 11

Agenda

• Welcome by Paul B. Mentz, Maritime

Administration R&D Coordinator,

and Introduction: Background and

Objectives, by Philippe Goubault of

Band, Lavis & Assoc., Inc.,

Chairman, SNAME Panel SD-5

• A new video: Advanced Marine

Vehicles, by Advanced Marine

Enterprises sponsored by SNAME.

• Markets for Fast Ferries and the

Prospects for Generating Revenue, by

Jennifer J. Zeien of Fort & Schlefer,

LLP; Chairman, SNAME Panel 0-36,

Maritime Economics

• Discussion: Why Not More High-

Speed Ferries in the USA?

• AMV Types and Their Worldwide

Employment Today, by David R.

Lavis of Band, Lavis & Assoc., Inc.

• A Range of Fast Ferry Designs, by

Peter Lenes of Halter Marine Group

• Discussion: Availability of Proven,

Reliable, Economical Fast Ferries

• Rules and Regulations Governing

Ferry Characteristics, by Jack Booth,

US Coast Guard

• Choosing the Right Ferry: Relating

Performance to Profitability, by

William A. Hockberger, Consultant

• Financing for Ferry Acquisition, by

Eugene Miller, Fort & Schlefer, LLP

• Discussion: Major Factors Inhibiting

Broader Use of AMVs

Summary of Discussions

The AMV video highlighted the

growing problem of surface transporta-

AMV WORKSHOP

(Continued From Front Cover)

Continued on Next Page

QUEST UPDATE

By John Meyer

For the benefit of newer IHS

members and IHS Newsletter readers,

QUEST is a Hydrofoil Small Waterplane

Area Ship (HYSWAS) demonstrator

craft, 12-tons and 27 feet in length, de-

signed, built and tested by Maritime Ap-

plied Physics Corp. (MAPC) under a US

Navy Small Business Innovation Re-

search Program contract. Articles on this

subject have appeared in previous issues

of the Newsletter, namely: Autumn ‘95,

pg. 9, and Autumn ‘96, pg. 6.

In November of 1996 and

March-April 1997 time frame, intensive

rough water trials were carried out in the

Norfolk VA area. QUEST was located at

and supported by the US Navy Amphibi-

ous Base in Little Creek VA. A contin-

gent of US Navy and civilian personnel

were in attendance during both trial peri-

ods and witnessed QUEST operations

from boats operated by the US Coast

Guard and US Army with photographic

and video coverage by MAPC and Navy

photo teams. MAPC took the opportu-

nity to catch QUEST with the US Navy

DDG-51 Destroyer headed out to sea as

shown above.

QUEST successfully operated

foilborne at speeds up to 35 kt in all di-

rections in waves which at times reached

a height of eight feet. It was observed that

the ride comfort in this small craft was re-

markably good, and it was able to main-

tain foilborne speeds without excessive

power demands. The data collection sys-

tem on board has collected a huge

amount of information which is being

analyzed.

Current plans are to incorporate

modifications to QUEST during the next

QUEST Overtaking Another Navy Ship

(Photo Courtesy of Maritime Applied Physics Corp.)

HYDROFOILS IN KITFORM

David A. Keiper of WILLIWAW

fame announced that DAK Hydrofoils is

taking advance orders for do-it-yourself

kits to get your catamaran flying on hy-

drofoils. According to Mr. Keiper, “Our

foils should be suitable for the Hobie 14,

16, and 18, Nacra 5.2, Prindle, Sea Spray,

A-class, others, plus some home-built

catamarans. We expect a catamaran with

these foils to be able to fly in a true wind

of 9 to 10 kt. In ideal conditions, foils

may double the speed. Mostly, foils will

add 50% to speed.” Contact David A.

Keiper, DAK Hydrofoils, 123 South Pa-

cific Street, Cape Girardeau MO 63703,

USA; telephone:573-651-6582; internet

e-mail: dvpw98e@prodigy.com; web site:

http://www.igateway.net/~dakh.

Page 12 IHS Summer 1997

tion in and around major US cities, many

of which are near water. The US Navy�s

AMV development successes exemplify

the technological strides made during the

1970s and 1980s in the USA. That this

technology has been commercially

adopted worldwide was illustrated in the

video by a host of fast ferries of all types

operating in Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Jennifer Zeien discussed ferries in

the transportation system, pointing out

that they do not operate in isolation, but

are only one link in the intermodal trans-

portation network. She asserted that de-

mand for fast ferry services ultimately

arises from individual choices among

competing modes of travel. Zeien then

outlined two types of ferry markets:

commuter-based and tourist-based ser-

vices. For the former, she showed a hy-

pothetical service load factor profile. For

the latter, she noted that tourist-based fer-

ries must usually carry vehicles as well as

passengers, and that marketing is needed

and important because the service is not

founded on constant use by a single rider

pool. The balance of Ms. Zeien�s paper

related the differences between commu-

ter-based ferry services and general

cargo and the cruise market. She went on

to describe a profile of ferry market ge-

ography, operating scenarios, and evalu-

ation factors for a proposed ferry service.

To open the morning discussion

period, moderator Tom Mackey asked

why there are not more AMVs in the

USA. He referred to current heavy traffic

areas. It was noted that the Maritime Ad-

ministration (MARAD) had a mandate to

influence the utilization of the water-

ways. The possibility that companies

like Federal Express might turn to AMVs

to bypass traffic gridlock areas was men-

tioned. Also it was commented that fer-

ries were simply not generally

recognized as logical alternatives by

many planning organizations. A high

percentage of government dollars go to

highway-related projects and a relatively

low percentage into ferry projects. There

is also a fairly widespread ignorance

about the nature and potential of AMVs.

However, examples of successful opera-

tions supporting the New York airports

were cited. There is a general perception

that ferries are “slow” compared to

trains, etc. Commuter AMVs could serve

tourist routes in off hours or off seasons.

The 1984 Urban Mass Transportation

Authority (UMTA) study is still gener-

ally applicable to USA operations.

Further discussion covered the

differences between USA and Europe re-

garding ferry utility. Also, if the demand

for faster water transportation is there, it

has been demonstrated that people will

pay extra for speed. Vallejo CA looked

into all aspects of ferry use before buying

new ferries, including off-peak, tour-

ist-based uses for the ferries. The possi-

bility for a Baltimore - Annapolis MD

ferry was mentioned; although there was

one some years ago that went out of busi-

ness, but a combined passenger - freight

ferry might be successful on that route. It

was proposed that such a ferry carry pas-

sengers during the day but freight at

night. A comment was offered that fed-

eral money for ferries comes through

highway appropriations, but that even if

those people are conscientious and hon-

est, they are still quite unaware of fast

ferries and what they might offer. In cer-

tain specific areas, such as

LaGuardia-Manhattan NY, private

money has been successful in starting

and operating faster ferries.

The need for maintenance, reli-

ability, and backup craft was highlighted,

as was passenger perception of safety

and comfort. There must be a willingness

to use alternatives (to highway transpor-

tation) in future planning, but there must

be distinct geographical advantages to

justify use of AMV ferries. In state-run

ferries, there may be negligible incentive

to upgrade for higher speed.

There are many ferries in the Seat-

tle WA area, and there is free downtown

bus service for ferry passengers. The

question was raised whether it is possible

to use highway money for passen-

ger-only ferries, in view of ferries as di-

rect substitutes for highways. Is the

Lewes DE to Cape May NJ route good

for fast ferries? Band Lavis Assoc. did a

trade-off study five years ago. This is a

tourist route, and tourists don�t tend to be

so time-sensitive; they are looking for a

good time. There is an absence of Long

Island NY to Connecticut fast ferry

routes, whereas it would appear that this

area would be a good place for them.

Mr. Mentz said that the US De-

partment of Transportation relies mainly

on private industry and doesn�t advocate

particular alternatives, but DOT is inter-

ested in ferries and supportive. MARAD

has participated with the Defense Ad-

vanced Research Projects Agency

(DARPA) on ferry projects, and can pro-

vide Title XI loan guarantees to fund

them. For the NEXTEA it was suggested

that ferry proponents emphasize traffic

congestion mitigation and air quality im-

provement aspects. ISTEA emphasis is

on freight transportation, and 95% of

present ISTEA funds go through the

MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organi-

zations), which have latitude to decide

how best to invest the money. Some re-

cent ferry projects had gone through the

MPOs, and it was remarked that this is

how things are supposed to work.

Studies at Grumman years ago are

still relevant today. Problems cited in-

cluded debris in the water, traffic, termi-

nal connections, river ice, etc. The

importance of local government support

was stressed, and positive examples in

New York City, Virginia, and North

Carolina were cited. In many areas how-

ever, there is strong political resistance.

David Lavis described types of

AMV hullforms, gave state-of-the-art

Continued on Page 14

AMV WORKSHOP

(Continued From Previous Page)

IHS Summer 1997 Page 13

HYDROFOIL NEWS DIGEST

Continued on Next Page

PRESENT AND FUTUREPROJECTS DETAILED IN

SINGAPORE

Fast Ferry Int�l, May 1997

Several of the speakers at the 13th

Fast Ferry International Conference that

was held in Singapore at the end of Feb-

ruary took the opportunity to discuss ei-

ther medium term projects, possible long

term developments or the operation of

vessels that are already in service. We se-

lected one.

Whither Fast Vehicle Ferries?

A speaker who gazed into the

crystal ball at the conference was Incat

Tasmania�s Robert Clifford, who, not

unsurprisingly, restricted his comments

to passenger/vehicle ferries.

He feels, “In five years� time, I be-

lieve I can reasonably predict that the

vast majority of fast ferries will be 91m

wave piercing class, powered by diesel

engines with capacities of around 900

passengers and 240 cars. Incat is geared

to produce five or more of these craft a

year from our Hobart shipyard. Simple

mathematics suggest that well over 20

such ships will dominate the market in

five years� time.

“Other yards will produce both

larger and smaller craft and others may

try to copy us with similar sized vessels.

Associated yards will produce a number

of vessels under Incat license agree-

ments. Some will be similar to our wave

piercing craft and others will be simpler

but faster, like our 50 knot K50, the first

of which is currently being built in

Panyu, China. In five years� time, at least

ten vessels built at the Chinese yard will

be in service.

“It is the ten year prediction that is

the most interesting! For this, I have ex-

trapolated from the past 20 years to give a

indication of where the industry may be.

What do we expect of operating speeds in

2007? Today we have two lines of prog-

ress to confuse us - calm water ship and

open water wave piercer.

By 2007 I think it is reasonable to

assume that most fast displacement cata-

marans will be capable of speeds over 50

knots. As we already have hovercraft

and two K Class catamarans in service at

over 50 knots, this is not a startling reve-

lation. But it must be kept in mind that

some operators will find difficulty in jus-

tifying the high cost of high speed. Those

who can justify the cost will do so be-

cause of the higher utilization.

“Sixty knot craft will generally be

available by 2007 and these will serve

sheltered areas, e.g. the River Plate and

the Kattegat. High utilization will also be

achieved by fast turnarounds, which in

some cases will be less than 10 minutes.

What will these ‘ships� look like? What

options does the operator who wants to

compete with aircraft have? Is it a flying

boat capable of say 300 kt or wing in

ground effect at 150 kt, or something a

little less ambitious?

“I favor a boat that takes advan-

tage of lift from wing like surfaces, yet

which remains essentially a ship. It

might, for example, have a displacement

of 400 tons with lift from the wings pro-

viding, say, 350 tons. I see it with three

very narrow planing hulls and powered

by water jets and gas turbines. [It is not

clear if Mr. Clifford really means

“wings” or did he mean to say “foils?”

If the latter, it has already been invented;

it is called Hydrofoil Small Waterplane

Area Ship (HYSWAS), and the concept

has been successfully demonstrated both

in the US. and Japan. -Ed.]

“The development of fast ships is

on a steep learning curve and this is cer-

tain to continue as weight saving tech-

nology keeps moving ahead. The conflict

of speed versus deadweight will however

remain.

An additional complication is the

attitude to speed and wash from the envi-

ronmentalist lobby. There is no doubt

that higher speeds and higher displace-

ment can only be achieved in open wa-

ters.

“Freight ships will require much

higher deadweights whilst maintaining

moderate to high speed. The HHS has set

the standard and the world is watching

and waiting to see who will be the next to

order other craft of this capability. It is

unlikely to be Incat built for some years. I

believe Incat is likely to continue to serve

the middle market. The 1,000 passen-

ger-250 car mark is not likely to be ex-

ceeded by Incat.

“I favor the view that the main-

stream fast operators will go for moder-

ate size and high frequency of service. If

I have to predict, I suggest size may well

stabilize at below 100 meters. Such a

craft is unlikely to be severely restricted

by sea states but, at 1,000-1,500 passen-

gers, will still be small enough to main-

tain frequent services.”

Robert Clifford also gave some

thought to fast car ferry production. He

reminded delegates that after 74m

Hoverspeed Great Britain was built in

1990, “For three years, only two vessels

per year were averaged. By 1993-1994

numerous yards around the world had

entered the market.

Page 14 IHS Summer 1997

SINGAPORE

(Continued From Previous Page)

“Unfortunately for them, and per-

haps fortunately for the overall good of

the industry, some yards have already de-

parted the scene. The fast ferry business

is clearly not for everyone. A special flair

is required to blend high performance

with reliability and safety, and yards

which have proven highly experienced at

building conventional ships have made a

mess of their first fast ferries.

“Today we find there are less

builders of fast ferries than there were a

year ago. No doubt new players will ap-

pear on the scene but others will depart.

A serious limitation to the growth of the

industry will be the availability of expe-

rienced constructors of craft, and unless

mega-dollars are injected into training

personnel to construct ships and manage

the projects, ten years of progress may

still see the world production of 50 ships

per year as an almost unobtainable goal.”

examples, reviewed attributes and spe-

cific issues associated with each AMV

type, cited trends for high performance

vessels worldwide, and listed obstacles

to fast ferry development. He described

the “advanced means of lift,” i.e. means

of lift other than buoyancy or planing

forces. These are: support by water/air

static and dynamic lift, and combinations

of same, referred to as hybrid ship forms

and illustrated by the Hydrofoil Small

Waterplane Area Ship (HYSWAS) and

the Surface Effect Ship (SES), an

air-cushioned catamaran. He illustrated

all of these concepts in a “Lift Pyramid.”

He reported trends for high performance

vessels worldwide including fast ferry

deliveries, speeds of fast ferries as of

1996, and distribution by hull type. Lavis

noted the growing sizes, speeds, and

technological advances that have helped

the AMV industry. He then described the

obstacles to fast ferry development, in

part, lack of information or understand-

ing of their possibilities, perceived reli-

ability issues, large number of hullform

types (difficult to make an informed

choice), inflated performance claims by

builders, and regulations poorly adapted

to fast ferries. Lavis concluded that (1)

military needs promoted past advances,

but today the commercial sector has the

lead; (2) Europe and the Pacific Rim

have been quicker to adapt the AMV

technology, (3) the USA market can be

significant, and (4) a national strategy is

needed to generalize AMV use.

Halter Marine, Inc. (HMI) unsuc-

cessfully proposed an E-Cat for Wash-

ington State Ferries, but Peter Lenes said

that they will soon build a prototype us-

ing their own funds. Also, HMI designed

the SEAFLIGHT catamaran with funding

from MariTech, and they almost suc-

ceeded in getting a customer for it. It was

based on a semi-SWATH concept for

which Stena holds patents. This necessi-

tated licensing and created other difficul-

ties if the project were to proceed.

In further discussion, the use of

ferries in Europe was noted, particularly

in the Baltic as floating entertainment

bases (casinos, bars, orchestras, etc.).

Avoiding taxes of the terminal nations

was discussed. Tom Mackey suggested

that this workshop�s sponsoring organi-

zations should develop standards for

comparing AMV types, also that we

should learn more about their safety and

environmental implications. He has

heard about large wakes hitting people

along the shore.

How is money for fast ferry work

raised in Europe? Information from

those programs is usually not readily

available in the USA. A reply was that

government money is still relied on

there, but that they also require specific

individuals to support them if they are to

be successful. Norway sponsored much

work in the 1980s. The Australians his-

torically have built many different types

and have received abundant government

support and money for export-oriented

fast ferry construction. An attendee

noted that some successful European fer-

ries carry both people and freight and

stated, “Many people there are looking

for fast entertainment as well as fast

transportation.” Wake generation in deep

water is not a problem, but more work on

fast ferry use in shallow water is needed.

The use of prediction programs and

model tests to resolve shallow wa-

ter/wake problems was discussed.

Mr. Lenes was asked about cus-

tomer response to the HMI portfolio. He

said there have been no USA customers

for the designs they have licensed from

foreign sources and added that it would

not make sense to build those designs for

other foreign customers due to the li-

cense restrictions. As to damage stability

of the various AMV types, Mr. Lenes

commented that catamarans in general

were excellent in this respect because of

the greater compartmentation.

AMV WORKSHOP

(Continued From Page 12)

Continued on Next Page

Disclaimer

IHS chooses articles and

photos for potential interest to IHS

members, but does not endorse

products or necessarily agree with

the authors’ opinions or claims.

IHS 25th Anniversary Celebra-

tion/Conference Proceedings

To order a copy of the Proceed-

ings containing a complete collection

of papers presented, send US$18.50

for shipment within the US or $25 for

international shipment to George

Jenkins, Treasurer; 713 S. Overlook

Drive; Alexandria VA 22305 USA.

STUDENTS WANTED

IHS membership costs full-time

students only US$2.50 per calendar year.

IHS Summer 1997 Page 15

AMV WORKSHOP

(Continued From Previous Page)

A question about wave-piercers

and their seakeeping performance and

commercial prospects was raised. Some-

one volunteered the information that the

Stena HSS has bilge-keel-like fins at the

stern that reduce stern motions.

Summing up the discussion period, Mr.

Lenes commented that we must “sell to

the USA infrastructure” and change the

prevailing “car culture” mentality.

Jack Westwood-Booth�s goal was

to cover US Coast Guard (USCG) initia-

tives for safety of high speed craft and

partnership with industry to facilitate the

construction of US-built vessels. He

noted that the International Maritime Or-

ganization (IMO), which adopted the

Dynamically Supported Craft (DSC)

Code in 1977, recognized the need to re-

vise it, and in 1995 published the High

Speed Craft (HSC) Code. The USCG ac-

tively helped develop this Code and

moved to incorporate it into USA regula-

tions. The USCG wants to bring USA de-

sign standards in line with international

standards. He concluded that by taking a

pro-active approach to safety now, the

USCG, in partnership with industry, can

provide a strong foundation from which

this small, but rapidly growing industry

can continue to prosper.

Ralph Patterson, moderator of the

afternoon session, led the discussion pe-

riod. It was noted that SNAME SD-5 had

worked with the USCG in reviewing sec-

tions of the new AMV code. It was noted

that manning and training are definitely

addressed in the new Code; it gives far

more flexibility to the designer.

William Hockberger showed in

his presentation Choosing the Right

Ferry that one can follow a systematic

process to determine if a particular ferry

could be operated profitably in a particu-

lar set of circumstances. That process can

be applied as many times as necessary to

evaluate any number of candidate ferries

or sets of circumstances. The process de-

scribed applies to any type of ferry, not

just AMVs. In fact, one reason for carry-

ing out such an analysis is to determine

what the ferry�s performance should be.

The ultimate measure of candidate

craft�s suitability for a ferry is the profit-

ability it will enable the ferry company to

achieve. There are various technical and

operational measures (ferry speed, ca-

pacity, total number of customers car-

ried, etc.) that are very important, but

they are mainly important as inputs to the

determination of overall company profit-

ability. The analysis process must be

aimed at developing information as to

the profitability implications of the many

decisions and choices to be made.

A viable ferry operation must

have many components besides the ferry

itself: routes, terminals, support facilities

and personnel, management and admin-

istration, customers of various kinds, ef-

ficient connections with the existing

transportation system, agreements with

area governments, etc. Each component

must be chosen to be compatible with all

the others — a “total system approach” to

selection. Also, attaining the highest pos-

sible profitability depends on avoiding

any constraints that are not absolutely

necessary, to permit the widest range of

choice among those components.

During the discussion period, an

attendee asked if induced demand for

ferry services had been considered in the

model presented. Hockberger said, “not

explicitly, but this is an important consid-

eration. Once a ferry service is begun, it

will provide transportation from an area

that may previously have been too iso-

lated for people to travel from easily, and

it may then become attractive as a place

to live or work.” When asked if the pro-

cess described had been reduced to

spreadsheets and calculation procedures,

to facilitate application to specific craft

in specific situations, Hockberger said,

“No, this should be done on a case basis Continued on Next Page

for each specific project. My main objec-

tive is to lay out the process framework

so that the analysts will be sure to include

all of the relevant factors. Often some

major parts of the problem are analyzed

in detail, but whole pieces are left out,

which compromises the results.” An at-

tendee said that computer programming

is relatively cheap and that we should de-

velop this program and make it available.

He suggested that we should then test the

program on historical examples. A com-

ment was, “Ultimately, contracting and

cash-flow realities drive any program.”

A participant noted that a successful

technique of European ferry operators is

to move their vessels around as markets

vary.

Eugene Miller cited three exam-

ples of financing in his presentation:

• The M/V Kennicott is being built for

the Alaska Marine Highway for $80

million, of which the Federal High-

way Administration is providing

US$64 million, ISTEA US$1 million,

and “oil spill funds” US$15 million.

The State of Alaska is also setting

aside a US$6.6 million reserve fund.

• An Atlanta tourist submarine project

raised US$7.35 million to buy a US$3

million sub plus other things. They

used a first round of financing to raise

US$400,000 to pay for arranging the

second, main financing round.

• The third example was a Title XI case.

One thing that was clear is that the fees

involved are quite large, which is a de-

terrent to small operators.

Mr. Miller gave an example of a

loan having an 8 or 15-year term but with

the payments amortized on a 25-year

term. This reduces the regular payments,

which is a benefit to a company getting

started, but it leaves a large balloon pay-

ment to be made at the end of the term. If

the company is doing well at that point, it

Page 16 IHS Summer 1997

HYDROFOIL WATER

SKI

by Tony Klarich

Sit down and get ready for the ride

of your life. The Air Chair is expanding

the limits of the possible on and above

the water. In the six years since its intro-

duction, the world�s first flying ski has

become an exciting contender in the

world of water skiing. It�s fun to ride, en-

tertaining to watch, and is still new

enough to be on the cutting edge.

To get ready, take a minute to fas-

ten together the aircraft-grade aluminum

hydrofoil to the upper ski and seat tower.

A seat belt and foot bindings with are two

security features that keep the pilot af-

fixed to the Air Chair for greater control

and safety. New riders use a deep-V han-

dle to help keep the ski straight during

starts. When the boat first accelerates

most of the resistance is on the board. As

speed increases to about 14 mph, the un-

derwater foil generates lift and becomes

the main steering mechanism. The most

common downfall for beginners is lean-

ing back. That�s okay for a water ski, but

do it on an Air Chair and it will turn into a

bucking bronco. The key to success is

breaking forward at the waist to get the

foil riding level through the water. While

in this position beginners adjust their

height above the water through con-

trolled handle positioning. With arms

straight to the front, raising them causes

the board to go down, while lowering the

arms them results in a rise.

Intermediate-to-advanced riders

use body English rather than handle posi-

tion to control altitude and direction.

Higher boat speeds increase the control

sensitivity, and big air can be grabbed

with little effort. Quickly leaning back

exposes the foil�s surface to the water

and generates tremendous lift. So much

air is attainable with so little effort that

the only limit is usually psychological.

Air Chair riders have discovered

that the foil slashes through the water like

a Ginsu knife, and long rides are less tir-

ing than conventional skiing. Less drag

also makes the Air Chair attractive for

owners of personal water craft or boats

with as little as 25 hp. Rough water is no

problem because the ski glides smoothly

above the turmoil below. When it�s too

choppy to enjoy anything else, you can

still have a great time on the water. More

good news is that you don�t need a wake

to make big air jumps. Lift is generated

by a combination of speed and tech-

nique; it is not dependent on leg strength

or wake size. Once a rider has acquired

the skills, jumps and flips can be per-

formed anywhere behind the boat. Even

coming down from all that air has its ben-

efits. The foil breaks the water first, de-

creases the shock, and makes for cushy

landings.

For info, contact Bob Woolley,

President, Air Chair; 2175 N. Kiowa

Blvd. Suite 102; Lake Havasu City AZ

86403; phone: 520-505-2226; e-mail:

airchair@ctaz.com. For a subscription to

Tony Klarich�s Air Chair newsletter

Flight, contact him at: 31566 Railroad

Canyon Rd. #101; Canyon Lake CA

should have no difficulty getting the loan

refinanced.

During the discussion of inhibit-

ing factors, it was noted that the people,

such as operators, one believes are most

in need of information about fast ferries

think there is nothing more they need to

know. No ferry operators attended the

workshop. The Transportation Research

Board (TRB), of the National Research

Council and National Academy of Sci-

ences, is where much of the activity in

transportation is centered in the USA.

Ferry industry people go there to find out

what is happening and see other people

they need to know and work with. One

major shortcoming, however, is that

ferry people meet and talk primarily with

other ferry people. A better way to spread

the word about ferries might be for ferry

people to attend non-ferry TRB sessions

so as to be on hand when new transporta-

tion projects are being discussed that

might include opportunities for ferry use.

AMV WORKSHOP

(Continued From Previous Page)

According to ABS president Rob-

ert D Somerville, “High speed craft and

related concepts are expected to have a

significant effect on the marine industry

as it advances into the next century. ABS

has worked hard on developing its re-

sources to enable the organization to be

well positioned for evaluating and class-

ing new designs and innovative concepts

as they are presented.”

The cost of the new Guide is

US$100.00. Order on-line from the ABS

web site at http://www.eagle.org, or by mail

to ABS Book Order Section, Two World

Trade Center 106th Floor, New York NY

10048, USA, or by fax to 212-839-5208,

or by phone to 212-839-5016,

ABS GUIDE

(Continued From Page 10)

LETTERThe NEWSInternational Hydrofoil Society

P. O. Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818 USA

Editor: Barney C. Black Co-Editor: John R. Meyer

American ferry operators and domestic shipyards that build

passenger and passenger/vehicle ferries could enjoy boom times if an

interesting new piece of legislation filed by Rep. Robert Menendez

(D-NJ) ever becomes law. The new proposal (H.R. 1630) from the legis-

lator, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Com-

mittee, would establish the Ferry Intermodal Transportation Act,

aimed at boosting and expanding ferry operations throughout the

USA, as well as in all US possessions. The measure authorizes US$18

million per year for fiscal years 1998 through 2002 (taken from the

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991�s Highway

Trust Fund) for the Transportation Department to conduct a major

study of USA ferry transportation.

The study results would go to the House Transportation and In-

frastructure and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Com-

mittees. They would identify:

• Existing ferry operations, including the locations and routes served

• Name, official number, and description of each vessel operated as a

ferry

• Source and amount, if any, of funds derived from federal, state, or

local government sources supporting ferry operations

• Impact of ferry transportation on local and regional economies.

AUTUMN 1997

IHS HOME PAGE

The URL for IHS’s home page is:

http://www.erols.com/foiler. If

you are not a web surfer but are curious

about the home page, IHS can provide

you with a hard copy printout on request.

AMV WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

If you want a package containing a

copy of each paper presented at the June

1997 AMV Workshop, please send a

check, to cover printing, handling and

mailing, for US$10.00 made out to the

IHS at PO Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818

USA.

INSIDE...

� President’s Column (2)

� Miami Ship... Part II (3)

� The HYDROFLIER (5)

� Russia’s OLYMPIA (6)

� Letters to the Editor (8)

� News Digest (13)

� Hydrofoil Voyager (16)See Major Study, Page 12

IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS

foiler@erols.com

Window into the Legislature...

CALL FOR MAJOR DOT FERRY STUDY

By Joel A. Glass, Washington EditorMarine Log June 1997

Page 2 IHS Autumn 1997

[IHS President John Meyer gra-

ciously relinquished his space in this is-

sue so that your Home Page Editor

Barney C. Black could write about the

IHS website.]

“The International Hydrofoil So-

ciety (IHS) is an all volunteer,

not-for-profit organization of and for

people who design, build, operate, or

simply are interested in commercial, mil-

itary, research, or recreational hydrofoils

of any size. Your participation is encour-

aged and welcomed.” This message

greets visitors to the IHS home page.

By attracting correspondents from

all over the world and drawing in many

new members, the IHS website has

broadened the make-up and character of

the Society. Veteran IHS members who

have not yet visited the website may have

noticed some of the changes reflected in

the scope of the articles and letters pub-

lished in the newsletter. Hydrofoils are

everywhere it seems, not just in the pas-

senger ferry and military industries.

Hydrofoil sailors now participate

strongly. Pioneering hydrofoil yachts-

man David A. Keiper’s book Hydrofoil

Voyager is reviewed on page 16 of this is-

sue. Dr. Sam Bradfield’s hydrofoil sail-

boat due to be produced in early 1998

was pictured in the Summer newsletter.

New historical interests have been

brought to our door. Alexander

McClair’s son Douglas proposes to re-

store the PLAINVIEW (his proposal is

detailed in the Letters section of this is-

sue). Rick Jackson owns a Volga 70 hy-

drofoil. Frank Eichstadt is considering

buying Richard Nixon’s Volga 270 hy-

drofoil and restoring it. And of course,

Eliot James and B. J. Meinhof have

bought ex-PHM 5 for restoration.

Hydrofoil inventors, hobbyists,

students, and experimenters are active all

over the world. Mike Stevenson’s efforts

are highlighted in this issue. We regu-

larly receive email from students seeking

advice on projects, and various IHS

members have been generous with their

help

The IHS website consists of the

main page at http://www.erols.com/foilerand several subpages:

• Posted Messages (Hydrofoil-Related

Chat, Info Sharing, and Networking)

• Announcements ( Hydrofoil-Related

Current Events and Information)

• Purposes and Activities of the

International Hydrofoil Society

• The People at IHS (the officers —

names and email addresses)

• How to Join IHS and Why

• Glossary of Hydrofoil Terms

• Hydrofoil Basics - A Brief Tutorial

• Links to Other Interesting Web Sites

• Stories of the Hydrofoil Pioneers

The posted messages area con-

tains email traffic, mostly questions

asked and answers received, on a variety

of hydrofoil-related subjects. Some of

the messages — those of general interest

and those that haven’t gotten stale with

the passage of time — are reprinted in the

newsletter. In fact, the ratio of electronic

messages to those that come in via the US

Postal Service has gotten quite high... an-

other effect of the website. Electronic

mail has made IHS much more respon-

sive and timely in its mission to dissemi-

nate knowledge to the public... a new

benefit, delivered without an increase in

the price of membership.

PRESIDENT’S COLUMNCLEOPATRA�S BARGE

Dr. Paul Johnston, Smithso-

nian Curator of Maritime History,

addressed a joint meeting of IHS,

the US Hovercraft Society, and the

SNAME SD-5 Panel on October 2,

1997 at the Fort Myer Officer*s

Club in Arlington VA. He related

the saga of America�s first

ocean-going yacht, CLEOPA-

TRA�S BARGE. Built in 1816 by

George Crowninshield of Salem,

with profits from privateering in

the War of 1812, the 100-ft yacht

was fast and lightly constructed in

the pattern of a privateering pre-

decessor. She employed an uncon-

ventional sail configuration and

included every available mechani-

cal innovation for steering, sail

handling, and fluid systems. On

one occasion she achieved 13 kt for

a ten-hour run. Her interior ar-

rangement and outfit were ex-

traordinarily elegant, a notable

affront to the frugal mariners of

Massachusetts.

In 1817 the owner embarked

on a bizarre six-month Mediterra-

nean cruise. Thousands of “roy-

alty” and hoi polloi were

entertained. The Barge was shad-

owed by the French, who suspected

a plan to rescue Napoleon from the

island of St. Helena. The logs and

diaries of this voyage could easily

inspire a comic opera.

Crowninshield died on

board his beloved Barge in 1817.

The yacht was sold into commer-

cial service. Following runs to Rio

and Charleston, she was sold to

Hawaii’s King Kamahameha II,

and she became the royal yacht

and flagship of the Hawaiian fleet.

In 1824 the Barge, now HA�AHEO

O HAWA�I (PRIDE OF HAWAII),

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 3

By Robert J. Johnston

The projects described in the pre-

vious newsletter kept Miami Shipbuild-

ing Co.�s (MSC�s) hydrofoil activities

busy and successful from 1954 to 1958.

Another interesting contract was for a

clandestine hydrofoil craft that could be

launched from a submarine�s torpedo

tube. The craft was to be so rigged that

two men could assemble the hydrofoil

rig in the water and proceed to shore for

their operation. The craft was to be capa-

ble of being submerged and hidden un-

derwater while the shoreside operation

was underway. The two men then re-

turned to the submerged craft and pro-

ceeded foilborne back to the submarine.

MSC was assigned the craft and hydro-

foil design, and the outboard marine in-

dustry got the task of coming up with a

suitable outboard motor that could with-

stand the submerged period. This project

became known at MSC as the “Cigar

Boat.” We built and successfully demon-

strated the craft with Prof. John Gill as

the project engineer. John, in a hunting

accident as a boy, had lost one arm. John

also insisted on being the test pilot for the

trials, so the controls were cleverly de-

signed for a one hand operation. MSC

successfully completed their part of the

craft, but the design of an outboard motor

capable of withstanding and restarting

after a submerged period was never de-

veloped.

So from 1954 to 1958 MSC was

busily occupied with interesting and

challenging hydrofoil projects. I was

elected to the Board of Directors and

while I was interested in all the work the

yard was undertaking, most of my time

and energy was focused on the hydrofoil

projects. We continually worried about

keeping a substantial workload in the

summer time when the yachting frater-

nity was centered up north. So one of the

Board�s primary interests was to diver-

sify. MSC had for a number of years built

a cement block making machine that

could be expanded (by adding compo-

nents) from a one-man machine to an au-

tomated producer of blocks. A number of

these machines were in operation includ-

ing many in Cuba. MSC also made a

plow that could turn Everglades swamp-

land into producing fields for agriculture.

This plow pulled by a tractor could plow

up and pulverize the coral and spread it

out so that planting could take place. So

these products and others provided a

non-seasonal work load for the yard. Of

course our primary workload came from

the repair and maintenance of yachts and

small inter-island freighters. MSC had a

particularly good reputation with the

sailing fraternity. When the Southern

Racing Circuit moved into Miami for the

winter season, MSC was able to under-

take the majority of the yard work re-

quired for these ocean racing yachts.

Recognizing that through the hy-

drofoil effort we had established a rather

large and talented engineering organiza-

tion, we were concerned about keeping

an adequate workload to maintain this

capability. We therefore decided to es-

tablish a subsidiary, Miami Engineering

Corporation, to provide engineering ser-

vices to the many small industries in the

Miami area. To incorporate such an orga-

nization we had to have a licensed engi-

neer as an officer of the corporation. So

Ted Rose and I started studying to pre-

pare ourselves to sit for the examination.

We went to Jacksonville FL and sat for

Continued on Next Page

WELCOME TO NEWMEMBERS

David A. Keiper heads up

DAK Hydrofoils in Cape

Girardeau, Missouri and is well

known in the sailing community.

His book Hydrofoil Voyager is re-

viewed on the back cover of this is-

sue. For years IHS has received

inquiries about how to locate David

and how to buy his hydrofoil kits

for catamarans. We are delighted

to have him as a member and to an-

nounce that he is once again manu-

facturing his kits due to popular

demand.

James Stewart is President

of Motion Design Creations, in

Hudson, Quebec, Canada. He and

his colleagues have been working

on a concept using “pivoting hydro-

foils for planing craft.” The con-

cept involves blending the foils�

efficiently-generated lift with hull

lift on planing craft so that the two

lift sources work together to reduce

hull drag over the full range of the

craft�s speed.

Richard Flint, of West

Richland WA, is enrolled in the

Westlawn Yacht Design Course.

Studies so far have concerned hy-

drodynamics, basic calculations for

hull displacement, coefficients of

form, stability, trim and balance,

etc. Studies have also focused on

manual drafting and drawing of

the lines plans. He is interested in

the use of hydrofoils, especially for

private/ recreational uses.

James Leflar is from

Conway, Arkansas, and is a student

at Webster University in Little

Rock, AR. He is interested in hy-

drofoils and wishes to learn more

about them by joining the IHS.

Hydrofoil Pioneers...

THE RISE AND FALL OF MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

Part Two — The Fall

Page 4 IHS Autumn 1997

Continued on Next Page

three days taking the tests. Fortunately

we both passed. I was made the president

of Miami Engineering Corp., and we

were incorporated. This organization un-

dertook some work for Eastern Airlines

but did not interest many other Miami or-

ganizations to use our engineering skills.

We did become a purchasing agent for a

number of Latin American companies,

using our skills (and discounts) to attract

customers. Among other things, we

learned how to design pumping systems

for the transfer of molasses from shore to

ships located some distance off Cuba.

Two hydrofoil projects of interest

began to take place. The US Maritime

Administration (MARAD), aware of the

commercial interest in hydrofoils in Eu-

rope and the successes of the Navy�s hy-

drofoil program, developed a growing

interest in this promising type of

waterborne transportation. MARAD�s

Coordinator of Research Charles R.

Denison was an enthusiastic supporter of

this concept of commercial transporta-

tion. He awarded Grumman Aircraft En-

gineering Corporation an extensive

parametric study for the future use of

commercial hydrofoils. Grumman had

acquired half interest in Dynamic Devel-

opments, Inc., Bill Carl�s company, who

had been instrumental in encouraging the

parametric study. When Bick Moorman

and I went to see Mr. Denison, he in-

formed us that in order to accomplish

what he wanted to do he had to have a

stronger company as his advocate than

MSC. We essentially did not have

enough political punch or financial sup-

port for his planned efforts. The purpose

of this parametric study was to determine

the type of hydrofoil craft best suited for

future express cargo and passenger ap-

plications. This led to the design of

DENISON, an 80 ton experimental craft

with a speed of 60 knots. MARAD had

budgeted US$7.5 million for the design,

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

construction, and test of this craft. Before

the contract could be awarded, Charlie

Denison died. With his demise, the

planned funds became US$l.5 million.

Bill Carl agreed to take the contract at

Dynamic Developments at this price

with Grumman�s backing. Bill was con-

vinced that he could get other companies

to contribute their expertise and products

to get aboard this new transportation

concept. Bill was successful at this but he

risked everything he owned to get

Grumman�s backing.

MSC watched these procedures

with interest and tried to get into the ac-

tion. We could not undertake such effort

without being fully paid. We even con-

tacted Supramar of Switzerland to be-

come a US builder of their designs. They

sent Senior Carlo Rodriquez to Miami,

who was Supramar�s primary licensee at

Rodriquez�s Shipyard in Messina, Italy,

to negotiate an arrangement whereby

MSC could offer a design to MARAD.

We were never able to make Rodriquez

understand the cost and time it took to get

a commercial design approved by the US

Coast Guard. Also, Supramar wanted a

guarantee that we would build a mini-

mum of five hydrofoils if we were

granted a license. So MSC was forced to

watch from the sidelines as the MARAD

program developed.

The other hydrofoil program that

was developing was the US Navy�s plan

to build a hydrofoil craft suitable for

anti-submarine warfare. In late 1957 the

Bureau of Ships (BUSHIPS) Preliminary

Design Branch began the study of a de-

sign that would ultimately become the

PCH. MSC provided consultation to this

group as the design advanced. We were

convinced that project was just right for

MSC, and that was where our future lay.

At about this same time several

unfortunate mishaps in the yard took

place. We underbid and overran a con-

tract to overhaul an Air Force rescue boat

and at the same time ran into cost diffi-

culties on a major project to modernize a

State of Georgia boat. During this same

period, while launching the schooner

NORTHERN LIGHTS, number 4 railway

ran off the track. These events put MSC

in a critical financial bind. The Navy,

who followed our financial status closely

with their frequent auditing of our con-

tracts, became concerned about our abil-

ity to perform the work that we had under

contract. MSC was informed that in or-

der to undertake future Navy work we

would need a change of management.

Particularly in jeopardy was our chance

to compete for the PCH. This led to a

lengthy and emotional Board Meeting in

which the situation was discussed from

many angles. The outcome was that Ted

Buhler would step aside as president

with me as his replacement. Paul Buhler

would resign as Treasurer, and a Navy

accountant would be brought on board as

his replacement. Bick Moorman was

made a Vice-President to work closely

with the Navy to assure them we were

taking all steps to be qualified to under-

take the PCH.

Now my perspective of MSC took

on added responsibilities. I learned what

it meant to meet a weekly payroll. In re-

viewing our financial position, I found

out that if all our accounts receivable

were current we really would not have a

financial problem. Customers such as

Arthur Vining Davis, probably the rich-

est man in Dade County, was a good cus-

tomer buying some of the machinery we

produced as well as maintaining his

yacht. When he was approached about

getting his account current he replied, “I

am current; my debts are paid on a

l20-day basis.” When I informed him

that all of our suppliers expected to be

paid on a 30-day basis, Mr. Davis com-

ment was, “If you can�t accept my terms,

I�ll have to go elsewhere.” I was also sur-

prised at the number of wealthy yacht

owners that owed us considerable

amounts of overdue monies. In discuss-

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 5

ing this with northern shipyard owners, I

found out that there were a number of

wealthy yacht owners who were using

the shipyards to finance their yachting.

Working on these accounts became one

of the new President�s primary responsi-

bilities. Some progress was made in this

effort, enough so that Bick Moorman

could report to us that we would be able

to be a bidder on the forthcoming PCH

program. In late 1959 the bid package

was received at MSC. Based on a set of

contract plans and defined government

supplied items, the contractor was to

quote on preparing the detail design and

building and testing the hydrofoil. Ru-

mors were running in the industry that a

buy-in bid was to be expected, such as

Grumman had done on the DENISON

program. With this knowledge I re-

quested a meeting with Admiral James,

Chief of BUSHIPS. I had known the Ad-

miral since his days on the Carrier con-

version program. He was quite cordial,

and when asked about the buy-in rumor,

he said that only responsive bids would

be acceptable to the Navy. A responsive

bid would be one that, based on Navy es-

timates, could be built for the bid price.

With this, MSC went to work on a bid.

Considerable time and money was de-

voted to this task, as winning the PCH

contract was the future of MSC. Bids

were submitted in early 1960. MSC�s bid

was US$4.1M.

We were excited when we re-

ceived a telegram saying to gather our

material and come to Washington DC to

negotiate on a contract for the PCH pro-

gram. While we were getting ready to en-

ter into negotiations, a second telegram

arrived saying that MSC was no longer in

the running for a contract and not to come

to Washington. I immediately went to

Washington to visit again Admiral

James. When I met with the Admiral, he

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

Continued on Page 7

THE INTERFLIGHT

HYDROFLIER TAKES OFF

By Mike Stevenson

We knew we had to do some-thing about all the “personal

watercraft” taking over the peaceful har-

bors of the world. You know how irritat-

ing the little dirt-bikes-of-the-sea can be:

noisy, smelly, loud, far too popular. At

least that’s the way we felt when we set

out to build a quiet alternative, the

INTERFLIGHT HYDROFLIER (see

photos above and on page 7). This was to

be a zero-emissions craft (i.e., electric),

so we wanted a low-drag hydrofoil. From

experience we knew that a hydrofoil is no

fun when it’s down in the water. Since

most harbors have a lot of 5-knot zones,

the boat should be able to fly at just under

5 knots. An electric-powered hydrofoil

had to be efficient, and it had to be fun de-

spite low power. This meant being able to

stunt around in it like an airplane (which

is what a hydrofoil feels like). The

HYDROFLIER would need true 3-axis

controls with an airplane cockpit feel, i.e.

stick and rudder-pedals.

But first some historical back-

ground: Twenty years before, we de-

signed and built the SPORTFOIL as a

goof-off project to explore sailing hydro-

foil possibilities. We found that tacking

on the foils was just not quite possible

with the limited rig we had, but that light

hydrofoils were indeed fun. Having a

small outboard motor close at hand, and

more time on our hands than was safe,

the SPORTFOIL quickly came into be-

ing.

Continued on Next Page

SPORTFOIL — Build-It-Yourself

Plans Available From the Author

When we began to design the

HYDROFLIER, however, we needed

something new for three reasons: The

very light wing-loading SPORTFOIL

was barely able to make it on 4 hp.; we

would have more drag with the control

surfaces needed for 3-axis stuntability;

and we had to stick with a low- power

drive.

We came up with an assisted-lift

hydrofoil. By having a buoyant underwa-

ter section lifting part of the load, the

wings don’t have to work as hard. We did

this by putting a torpedo-like keel with a

Page 6 IHS Autumn 1997

MIAMI SHIPBUILDING

(Continued From Previous Page)

also invited the BUSHIPS officer in

charge of procurement to attend the

meeting. Admiral James repeated what

he had told me in the earlier meeting.

Considering our price to be responsive,

we had been invited to negotiate. Then

procurement informed him that since

there were lower bids, these bidders had

to state that they could not build the PCH

for the price submitted in order for their

bids to be declared non-responsive. Boe-

ing was the low bidder at US$2.1M.

Though MSC knew — and thought the

Navy knew — that the material require-

ments could not be met for US$2.1M,

Boeing said that they could build the

PCH for the quoted price. And so in June

l960, Boeing was awarded a contract for

US$2.08 million to build the PCH.

This was a terrible blow to MSC.

Our future in the hydrofoil world looked

most discouraging. With the approval of

the Board and the major stock holders,

we undertook to sell MSC to a major

company. Our initial contacts brought

several responses of interest, among

them Chris Craft, Loral Electronics,

Grumman, and AVCO. Although Loral

put a representative in the plant for sev-

eral weeks, only Grumman and AVCO

showed true interest.

Grumman saw the advantage of a

shipyard building DENISON and consid-

ered moving all their hydrofoil personnel

and assets to Miami as their hydrofoil fa-

cility. However the facts that MSC was a

unique shop, that Grumman was the only

major aircraft manufacturer that was

non-union, and that part of the property

was leasehold stopped their interest.

AVCO was looking for help and a

place to build the LVHX. There was seri-

ous discussion within the Lycoming Di-

vision as to how to handle the

forthcoming contract for that effort. The

Vice-President for Engineering urged

buying MSC to get the experience of

MSC�s technical staff. Lycoming�s Chief

Engineer took the position that they had

learned enough as prime contractor on

the Flying DUKW program that they

could go it alone. After very serious dis-

cussions, a proposition was worked out

for the purchase of MSC to be presented

to the AVCO Board. At the Board meet-

ing to take up this issue, it was brought

out that just a year earlier, AVCO had

sold a shipyard they owned in New Jer-

sey. At that time they had convinced their

stockholders that it was a smart move to

get out of shipbuilding. On this basis they

turned down the purchase of MSC.

These decisions led to the last

Board meeting of MSC that I would at-

tend. It was held at Kenilworth Hotel on

Miami Beach. The Kenilworth was a ho-

tel owned by Leo DeOrsay, who was a

stockholder of MSC, and Arthur

Godfrey, for whom Leo DeOrsay was a

financial administrator. MSC had bene-

fited from this arrangement from time to

time. At this meeting I announced that

MSC could no longer compete in the hy-

drofoil world, and that I was resigning as

president of MSC effective July 31,

1960.

Knowing the condition of MSC,

Grumman had been after me for some

time to join them. I received calls from

others, but only considered joining

Grumman. I was also greatly concerned

about the personnel of MSC, many of

whom I had convinced of MSC�s future

to get them to join. I talked with

Grumman representatives and Bill Carl

regarding the talents of MSC�s technical

staff. With full agreement all technical

personnel of MSC were offered jobs at

Dynamic Development to work on the

DENISON contract. So when I went to

Long Island NY, most of the technical

staff went with me. Most of those who

went North had learned to like Florida

living too much to stay. But I stayed with

Grumman until I retired along with Rod

Rose and Ray Wright who became lead-

ing engineers in automatic control sys-

tems and hydrodynamics. We arrived at

Dynamic Developments on August 1,

1960. Our first efforts were to convince

Bill Carl to add an automatic stability

system to the DENISON surface piercing

foils. On 30 August 1960 I took off for It-

aly as the program manager for a joint

venture of Grumman and Rodriquez to

produce an Italian Navy Hydrofoil. And

so one career ended, and another began.

[IHS member Jean Buhler is putt-

ing together the entire history of MSC.

Anyone who, like Bob Johnston, is able to

contribute information of this effort is

encouraged to contact IHS. -Ed.]

RUSSIA�S OLYMPIA

By Konstantin Matveev

I would like to tell about new Rus-

sian hydrofoils. Such ships as RAKETA,

METEOR, and KOMETA have merited

world recognition. Some hundreds of

them were built, but during the last de-

cade, a new generation of hydrofoils has

been created in Russia. High durability,

low cost, excellent navigability, and

comfort are the real features of modern

Russian hydrofoils. I participated in test-

ing of OLYMPIA, a commercial hydro-

foil designed to transport passengers on

cruises of up to eight hours. Areas of op-

eration are seas and large lakes. Range of

travel from home port is 50 miles in open

sea or 100 miles in a closed sea. The main

features of OLYMPIA:

Profile length, 42.5 mProfile width, 14 mHull width, 8.3 mProfile draught, 4.6 mDisplacement, 138 tonsDiesel engines (2), MTU 16V306TB84Power of engines, 1905 kW eachCruising speed, 37 knotsMax. Range, 300 n. milesMax. Passenger capacity 250

Continued on Next Page

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 7

OLYMPIA

(Continued From Previous Page)

controllable buoyancy chamber that we

could fill or blow like a submarine. Vari-

able buoyancy in the submerged section

allowed for differing pilot weights and

in-flight trim corrections. An added ben-

efit of being able to house the batteries in

the torpedo section, where they wouldn’t

weigh down the foils as much, would be

good for the electric version.

We used a

5hp Honda

4-stroke outboard

at first, to work the

kinks out. This en-

gine was clean

running, even on

gas. We reasoned

that if the electric

power idea didn’t

work, a low-emis-

sions version run-

ning on CNG or

propane would still be a vast improve-

ment over the conventional two-strokes.

We made a 1/3-scale model with a

small electric motor to test the as-

sisted-lift idea a bit before going to

full-size. The model was encouraging,

eventually able to do foilborne fig-

ure-eights in a pool. One thing we needed

to answer was the small instability prob-

lem of lifting a weight out of the water

with a single buoyancy source: sort of

like standing on a beach ball in the pool.

Our contradictory-sounding ideas

came together in the first HYDROFLIER.

It would go 10-12 knots (remember:

5hp), and was really maneuverable. It

could get up on foils in less than two

boat-lengths and could stay foilborne at

4+ knots. The controls took getting used

to, but people seemed to be able to fly

pretty well. You could solo right away,

but the learning curve was just steep

enough to keep it fun.Continued on Page 12

We tried to get some companies

interested in it, but their response after

seeing the videotape was: “Why is it so

slow?” This was irritating because we

were trying to make it slow. It’s easy to

make a fast hydrofoil, but we made one

that could go slowly as well. They didn’t

understand and didn’t want to get in-

volved. Interestingly, we recently heard

that a personal watercraft company in

southern California is working on an as-

sisted-lift hydrofoil.

We shelved the HYDROFLIER

project, but recently revived it to con-

tinue development with the help of stu-

dents. The next model will have

improved foil sections, a more lami-

nar-flow type torpedo, and possibly a

variable-pitch propeller. The new model

will also begin exploring electric power

options. These machines will offer stu-

dents a lot of fun and education! Hope-

fully this partnership will eventually lead

to the building of a larger, twin-hulled

four-seat version, which is waiting in the

wings; we’ll see what the future holds.

HYDROFLIER is not yet avail-

able, but plans for building your own

SPORTFOIL cost US$15 from Back

Yard Yacht Club; PO Box K; Del Mar

CA 92014; phone 619-481-3111;

email: mail@steveproj.com; website:

www.steveproj.com/BYYCHome.html.The

SPORTFOIL is 12 ft. LOA, beam:

6’-10” w/foils, 4’hull only, wt. = 150

lbs +engine (5 to 15 hp outboard).

Passengers are accommodated in

bow, middle, and stern salons. The ma-

chinery spaces are located between the

middle and stern salons. Above are ser-

vice sections. A bar is in the stern salon.

A deck-cabin is located between the bow

and middle salons.

The hull, of welded construction,

is made of 1561 aluminum alloy. The foil

system consists of bow and stern main

foils with auxiliary foils above the bow

and the mid foils to assist take-off. The

entire foil system is of welded construc-

tion. A titanium alloy is used for the bow

foil; the stern foil is stainless steel; and

the stabilizer and mid foils are an alumi-

num alloy. Rudders are installed on the

struts of both the bow and stern foils.

The two main diesel engines d rive

through flexible joints, reduction gears,

and inclined shafts to variable pitch pro-

pellers. Diesel auxiliary power-plants

drive AC generators at 43.2 kW each and

cooling compressors at 24.3 kW each.

An air conditioning system provides

ventilation and maintains a constant,

comfortable temperature in the passen-

ger salons, service sections, and

deck-cabin.

The ship is equipped with an auto-

matic motion control system that enables

the ship to keep to a given course and al-

leviates pitch and roll motions in rough

water. The system consists of a central

gyroscope, accelerometer sensing ele-

ments, and auxiliary foil elements.

The OLYMPIA project was devel-

oped by the Central Hydrofoil Design

Bureau (Nizhniy Novgorod), while pro-

duction was accomplished by Morye

Feodosia Shipbuilding. The first ship

was built in 1993. Service was imple-

mented in Europe from the Black Sea to

HYDROFLIER

(Continued From Page 5)

Page 8 IHS Autumn 1997

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continued on Next Page

Stunning PHM Update

In a deal made with the company

that purchased the other five PHMs for

scrapping we have traded the

ex-HERCULES (PHM-2) for the

ex-ARIES (PHM-5), the only PHM that

still had the foils attached. We oufitted

this ship with original MTU diesels for

hullborne ferry back to Missouri. The en-

gine installation is complete; so are the

hydraulic system and electrical system

(consisting of one 60-cycle genset and

one 400 cycle genset). We have a new

PLC controller that lets us retain the orig-

inal helm, and electro-hydraulic actua-

tors that operated the steering and thrust

reversers as well as monitor the power

train. Our shakedown cruise was on the

Cooper River in Charleston SC.

We finally made it to Missouri.

Got some great pictures of our ship under

the St.Louis Arch. There was an opening

on the waterfront, and we just pulled in

like we owned the joint. The trip took

about 45 days and covered over 2,100

miles. The ship preformed excellently.

Our only mechanical problems were

with the 60 cyle genset and our launch.

The foils do hinder us in docking, so we

spent most nights anchored. The recep-

tion we received was exactly the same

from SC to MO, amazment! If we were

paid one dollar for every picture taken,

we could have bought a brand new

LM2500 for cash! Everyone we met

asked, “What is it? ” and “What are you

going to do with it? ” Initially we an-

swered in great detail; conversations

about restoration and preservation were

carried out with boats putting alongside,

and everyone yelling to one another.

Eventually that got tiresome, and the an-

swers got shorter! no matter where we

were we had company, it became quite

comical to see boaters running along side

with the resident expert explaining the

operation of the foils always using his

arms in the same sweeping motions.

When we did dock for fuel and supplies

we were always treated as royalty;

dredges gave way to us, and lockmasters

gave us the lock to ourselves. The foils

made the lockage tricky but we never had

a problem.

We had to change the name of the

ex-ARIES, so we dubbed her PEGASUS.

The original is gone now for good. It may

be a while before we acquire the neces-

sary funds and parts (GE LM2500s aren�t

plentiful or cheap), but it is our full inten-

tion to fly the ship.

Eliot James

Custom Composites Company

RR 2 Box 192

Salisbury MO 65281-9664

816-777-3300 voice; 816-777-3302 fax

esjames@cvalley.net[Hydrofoilers can keep up with

and participate in the on-going technical

discussions about this craft; see the Post-

ings section of the IHS website -Ed.]

Need Sailing Rig

A friend and I are building a sur-

face sensing, 2-man sailing hydrofoil.

We have been working on it for two

years. It tows good (behind my power

boat) but we haven�t successfully sailed

it yet. It requires 25 kg of force to get it

over the hull/foil hump and then drops

off to 16 kg. The speed at which it goes

over the hump is about 8 MPH. We are

having trouble getting a sufficiently

powerful rig, are looking at about a 10 sq

metre rig unstayed! Any suggestions?

Michael Robert Coote

109a Richardson Rd.

Mt Albert Auckland, New Zealand

Ph/Fax 09 815 3365

live@livewire.co.nz

[You might want to invest

US$12.00 ($4.00 each) in the Amateur

Yacht Research Society�s (AYRS�s) pub-

lications #90 Hydrofoil Options, #97 Sail

Rigs and Hydrofoils, and #101 Windmills

and Hydrofoils, These are is available in

the USA from Multihull Books, 421 Han-

cock St., North Quincy MA 02171, and

there are other sources. You will find a

link to the AYRS home page from the IHS

website. Also, check out Hydrofoil Voy-

ager, reviewed in this issue -Ed.]

Ski Foil Questions

I own a ski boat that I want to fit

with foils. My specs: Direct drive prop,

mid engine mount, 20 foot length, 90

inch beam, 2,500 lbs., 44mph top speed,

280 horsepower, and hull style is deep V

bow to 10 degree V back to transom. I am

desperately trying to modify the shape of

the wake with a single trim plate of vari-

ous sizes and shapes using hydraulics to

adjust the angle. But all I really achieve is

pushing down the bow and creating

harder wakes from all the extra hull in the

water. I discovered by mounting the plate

on 4” struts below the hull surface I am

getting a more suitable wake. I don�t re-

ally want to raise my hull completely out

of the water, but if I could get my stern

from 8 ” below waterline to a couple

inches below waterline I think I might ac-

complish my goals. Also I do have a

mounting location for a forward foil if

recommended. I am a metal fabricator

and welder so I am able to fabricate the

foils. Could you please help me with the

specs. on the foil such as the surface area

needed and what the cross section of a

foil should be shaped like? Currently the

flat plate is 39 ” x 11 ”.

Dean Yaeger

dayaeger@aol.com

Ride Control For Cat

I am a naval architecture student at

the Technical University of Berlin, Ger-

many. I am working with an engineer in

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

Australia, far away from all my smart

books. We have a problem designing a

hydrofoil assisted catamaran ferry. We

would be interested to gain wisdom on

standard profiles selected, design proce-

dures, and cavitation and performance

prediction. It would be very helpful, if

you could name some websites or other

sources dealing with these problems.

Sebastian Bade

bade@cadlab.tu-berlin.de

Save PLAINVIEW

I enter this post to generate inter-

est and start a discussion on the feasibil-

ity of something near and dear to me. My

life has been greatly molded by the

events that many of you gather to discuss

and review — the creation and improve-

ment of the hydrofoil. I have never been

directly involved in your field, but my fa-

ther has. Many of you know him, Alex-

ander M. McClair. In recent discussions,

we were reflecting on the hydrofoil pro-

gram, the pioneering spirit of thepeople

involved, and the tight bonds that were

formed among the teams that created the

AGEH, PCH and PHM. I often take great

pride when I see commercial hydrofoils

in use (not that Alec was the father of the

hydrofoil); our family lived a lot of years

revolving around the boats and the ship-

yards that made them. We were all pres-

ent at the launches of these ships

mentioned. It was long ago. Since then

the use of these ships has grown. As it

continues to grow, there is an element

missing from the early days of progress:

a living example of early hydrofoil de-

sign and manufacture. This has been the

topic of many conversations between me

and my father (as well as many of you).

Which has prompted me to begin a jour-

ney. A journey to look into the feasibility

and logistics of resurrecting a ship, the

AGEH PLAINVIEW. I have an interest in

this to retrieve the AGEH, and restore it

to operational status. The purpose is to

preserve an early version of today�s ac-

complishments. Those of you involved

in the early days of hydrofoil develop-

ment are keenly aware of the pioneering

spirit of your peers. I feel that it is worth

saving in the form of a demonstrable ves-

sel, one that stood apart in its day. The

AGEH was the fastest ship in its class,

and the world�s largest aluminum hull

vessel in its day. Now it sits on a beach (I

think in Goose Bay, Oregon). A number

of people and associations have gotten

together to restore other vessels in differ-

ent categories; I would like to do this for

a vessel that helped to develop an indus-

try. Its use would be as a floating/travel-

ing museum. I am interested in your

responses. Please contact me at my email

address below [or by regular mail c/o

IHS -Ed.]. For those of you that think this

is futile, please respond as well.

Douglas M. McClair

dmcclair@mcclair.comResponse...

I believe the PLAINVIEW is be-

yond restoration as an operational hydro-

foil for the following reasons:

• The PLAINVIEW hull is owned by a

church group, and the ship is now

moored in the Columbia River east of

Astoria. I do not know the intent of the

church, but I suspect the hull could be

had for a price. The cost of moving it

and mooring it at some location will

also add to the cost.

• The US Navy scrapped PLAINVIEW

with all the major equipment re-

moved, including the struts, diesels,

gas turbines, outdrives, and Auto-

matic Control System (ACS) elec-

tronics. After storing the main struts

on the Hydrofoil Special Trials Unit

(HYSTU) barge for a period of time,

when HYSTU was preparing to close,

the gear boxes were removed from the

struts, and the struts were scrapped.

The gear boxes were below decks of

the barge when the barge was turned

over to the Acoustic Range on Fox Is-

land. I do not know where the gear

boxes are today. I also don�t know

what happened to the struts. The tail

strut was to go for fatigue testing at

Carderock, but I don�t know if any

funds were made available to do so.

The tail strut was of interest because

of the HY130 steel construction.

• The HUDAP (Hydrofoil Universal

Digital Autopilot) sat on the barge in

storage without preservation. I believe

that when the barge was cleaned of

HYSTU parts, the HUDAP was sent

to scrap. We have used a IBM PC with

D to A (Digital to Analog) and A to D

converters to provide flight control on

the HIGH POINT as a feasibility dem-

onstration. With considerable amount

of programming, PLAINVIEW could

possibly have a couple of PCs config-

ured to provide the ACS function.

4) The retraction actuators were

left on the ship. I do not know if they are

still there. I also do not know the final re-

sults of the incidence control actuators.

To replace these actuators alone would

be cost prohibitive.

As an alternative, Ron Fraser, the

owner of HIGH POINT, is working to get

the ship operational hullborne. It could

be made operational foilborne with res-

toration work and gas turbines. The gas

turbines and diesels were removed when

the ship was sold for scrap, but the gear-

boxes are still intact as well as all the foils

and struts. Most of the work done by Ron

so far is to remove unwanted equipment

such as the test instrumentation and in-

stalling generators and head equipment. I

am sure Ron would accept any help in

getting his ship restored.

Regards to your dad. We had quite

a time together when he worked for

Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construc-

tion Co. and I worked for Supervisor of

Shipbuilding, Construction, and Repair,

Seattle on the PLAINVIEW project.

Sumi Arima

arimas1@juno.com

Continued on Next Page

Page 10 IHS Autumn 1997

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

Needs Exercise

Is it possible to build a one-man

hydrofoil, powered by muscle (pedal)

and, if yes, where can I get plans?

Ingo Fengels

fengels@datacomm.ch

[See the TRAMPOFOIL® Human

Powered Hydrofoil at their web site,

http://www.trampofoil.se. -Ed.]

Safety Rules

I read in the Summer ‘97 issue of

the IHS Newsletter about the American

Bureau of Shipping (ABS) rules for high

speed craft and will order a set. Do you

know if there is a set of US Coast Guard

rules for safety?

Stan Siegel

stansiegel@aol.com

[The U S Coast Guard publishes a

multi-volume “Marine Safety Manual”

that can be downloaded from their

website:

http://www.dot.gov/dotinfo/uscg/ wel-

come.html. The USCG (and IHS) partic-

ipated actively in reviewing the

International Maritime Organization�s

(IMO�s) safety standards for high speed

craft, published as Chapter X of the Inter-

national Convention for the Safety of

Life at Sea (SOLAS), available from var-

ious booksellers. See the IMO home

page http://www.imo.org for more info.

-Ed.]

Build Your Own

I am trying to find plans to build a

hydrofoil (engine powered). More effi-

cient means of transportation for South-

east Alaska are desperately needed. I do

have an existing hull to experiment with.

There is a lot of mystery around this kind

of project; no one seems to know the ba-

sics. Is there a formula for weight to

power to drag ratio? I don�t know if I�m

asking the right question. A basic foil de-

sign would be nice... I could fabricate it if

I had plans and dimensions.

Cary Taylor

617 St. Anns

Douglas AK 99824

CTaylor169@aol.comResponse...

Our experience with home-built

hydrofoils has led us to conclude that low

wing loading is VERY preferable. Most

builders go for low drag, which means

small foils, which leads to high loads. I

took a look at the DAK site,

http://www.igateway.net/~dakh, and it does

have some good looking foils. Another

site you should look at is ours! We have a

set of plans for building a small powered

hydrofoil. At any rate, you should look at

different approaches to narrow down

what you want to build. Our

SPORTFOIL plans are viewable at: http://www.stevproj.com/SpecPurp.html. Our lat-

est hydrofoil project is at: http://www.stevproj.com/XBoats.html. Building a

pretty good sport hydrofoil is not really

magic. You should be able to have a lot of

fun, but don�t let the preponderance of

technicalities weigh your project down.

Mike Stevenson

mailback@stevproj.comResponse...

Most people who call/Email me

are enthusiasts or would-be designers /

builders; that is they want to build a hy-

drofoil, not buy one. When asked the

cost, I say that conversion of a 24ft

outdrive-powered craft such as TALARIA

III would be about US$20,000. Not ex-

pensive, in boating terms, but beyond the

casual hobbyist�s budget. The callers are

usually deterred when they find out it re-

quires an autopilot. If so, I suggest the

Hobie Trifoiler mechanical submerged

foil concept or the Russian and Florida

model boat hydrofoil surface piercing

design concepts as approaches to con-

sider. The questions are usually about

the hydrofoils, an area where I have little

knowledge, my background is better in

the fields of automatic control, hydrau-

lics, analog electronics and software. I

have had a few visitors stop by to see the

boat. If mutually convenient, I can take

them for a ride (the boat is kept on a

trailer). I am pleased to talk with anyone

whom I can help. Re: sale of kits/ con-

versions, the market interest has not so

far been sufficient, i.e. no one has ex-

pressed an interest in buying a kit. No

one has asked about buying the boat ei-

ther.

Harry Larsen

hlarsen0@gte.nethttp://home1.gte.net/hlarsen0

Adding Foils

I want to obtain any drawings or

pictures that might aid me in the design

and installation of hydrofoils on my Vic-

tor Model Products “Wildcat” Radio

Controlled Catamaran. Any suggestions

as to which type of foil (ladder or single)

to use would be greatly appreciated.

Tracy L. St. Phillips

Laser 13021@aol.com

Boeing 929 JETFOIL

Anyone curious about the opera-

tion of the Boeing 929 JETFOIL feel free

to respond. I operated the first boats in

Hawaii and then moved to Seattle work-

ing with Boeing Marine Systems as cap-

tain in their test group.

The Letters To the Editor section

allows hydrofoilers to ask for or provide

information, to exchange ideas, and to

inform the readership of interesting de-

velopments. Much additional corre-

spondence is published in the Postings

section of the IHS web site. All are in-

vited to participate. Opinions expressed

are those of the authors, not of IHS

IHS OFFICERS 1997 - 1998

John Meyer President

Mark Bebar Vice President

George Jenkins Treasurer

Ken Spaulding Secretary

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 11

DEVELOPMENT

OF A HULL FORMNavatek Ships, Ltd., founded in

1987, is pioneering the research, devel-

opment, and engineering of a variety of

hull technologies, including SWATH

(Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull),

SLICE (a fast SWATH hull variant incor-

porating four underwater pods) and

MIDFOIL (a SLICE hull derivative em-

ploying an underwater foil instead of

pods). In conjunction with its MIDFOIL

R&D program, Navatek Ships studied a

variety of foil hull variants, including ad-

vanced hydrofoil and FOILCAT technol-

ogies. In 1996, Navatek�s parent

company Pacific Marine acquired intel-

lectual property rights to the WESTFOIL

and Westamarin FOILCAT 2900 tech-

nologies, together with demonstration

craft. Navatek is currently modifying and

refining those technologies to produce a

new hydrofoil called NAVAFOIL.

The WESTFOIL fully-submerged

hydrofoil design was pioneered by

Westfoil International of the USA. Con-

struction began on the 25-meter

WESTFOIL prototype in 1987, with sea

trials taking place in 1991. Pacific Ma-

rine acquired the prototype in 1997. The

NAVAFOIL design will adapt from the

WESTFOIL its foil construction technol-

ogy, flap actuation via electric servo mo-

tors, air propeller propulsion system, and

air/water propulsion gear boxes.

The FOILCAT 2900 was devel-

oped by Westamarin West a.s, a Norwe-

gian company specializing in high-speed

hydrofoils and catamarans. The

FOILCAT 2900 is a hydrofoil-assisted

catamaran combining the best properties

of the slender hull catamaran with the

speed capability of hydrofoil craft fitted

with fully submerged foils. It entered ser-

vice in 1992 between Norway and Den-

mark and subsequently ran in

commercial service in Indonesia before

Pacific Marine acquired it in 1997. The

NAVAFOIL design will incorporate from

the FOILCAT 2900 its catamaran hull

form, flight control instrumentation,

low-flying concept, and Z drive propul-

sion.

According to Michael Schmicker,

Navatek�s VP of Business Development,

“The NAVAFOIL design will also feature

refinements and enhancements devel-

oped by our in-house engineering staff.

These include improved microprocessor

technology, electronic performance, air

propeller technology and composite and

other materials, and advanced servo mo-

tors.” Finally, the NAVAFOIL adapts the

foil arrangement and ride control system

pioneered in the Boeing JETFOIL.

Two different designs of the

NAVAFOIL are being developed for the

market, including a passenger ferry

(Mark I), and a sightseeing/tour boat

(Mark II). Construction of the first

NAVAFOIL craft is scheduled to begin in

the first quarter of calendar 1998. The

completed craft will be put into commer-

cial service while it also serves as a dem-

onstrator for potential customers and as a

test bed for further design refinements.

[For more info on NAVAFOIL,

contact Michael Schmicker, Vice Presi-

dent of Business Development; Navatek

Ships; 841 Bishop St., Suite 1880; Hono-

lulu HI 96813 USA; phone:

FOILCAT 2900

Navatek’s NAVAFOIL Due To Begin Construction in 1998

WESTFOIL

IHS 25th Anniversary Celebra-

tion/Conference Proceedings

To order a copy of the Proceed-

ings containing a complete collection

of papers presented, send US$18.50

for shipment within the US or $25 for

international shipment to George

Jenkins, Treasurer; 713 S. Overlook

Drive; Alexandria VA 22305 USA.

Page 12 IHS Autumn 1997

The study also must identify po-

tential domestic ferry routes in the US

and possessions, and develop informa-

tion on them, including location that

might be served and estimates of capac-

ity required, capital costs of develop-

ment, annual operating costs, local and

regional economic impact, and potential

for the use of high-speed ferry services.

Once the report has been sent to

Capitol Hill, the Transportation Depart-

ment must arrange meetings with the

chief planners for each metro area where

a ferry service is operated, or for where a

potential route has been identified to dis-

cuss the results of the study and the avail-

ability of federal and state resources for

providing ferry services.

The Menendez Bill also autho-

rizes US$7 million a year for Fiscal

Years 1998-2002 for a new Title XI pro-

gram. It would authorize the Secretary of

Transportation to guarantee, or make a

commitment to guarantee, the payment

of the principal of, and the interest on an

obligation for ferry operations in the

transportation of passengers or passen-

gers and vehicles in the USA and its pos-

sessions. Although these guarantees and

commitments would be subject to all

laws, requirements, and procedures ap-

plicable under Title XI, a formal Rule

would have to be promulgated by the

Transportation Department to provide

ferry operators with “a simplified appli-

cation and compliance process for guar-

antees and commitments made under this

[Bill].”

If the legislation is passed as writ-

ten, it would bind Congress to the follow-

ing findings:

• Today�s ferries are a critical transpor-

tation component in many communi-

ties, providing vital transportation

services for passengers, automobiles,

buses, and trucks in locations where

practical alternatives are insufficient

or do not exist. Ferries provide alter-

natives to other transport modes that

are facing severe capacity constraints.

• Ferries do not require the construction

of costly infrastructure such as roads,

bridges, or tunnels, thereby reducing

environmental impacts, capital in-

vestment, and the time required to be-

gin operation.

• Ferries reduce single-occupancy vehi-

cle traffic, thereby reducing traffic

congestion, air pollution, and energy

use. Ferries are flexible because ves-

sels and some loading facilities may

be shifted to new locations to respond

to changes in demand or in times of

national emergency.

• Joint efforts by private operators and

local governments already have re-

sulted in innovative and successful

ferry operations in many urban areas.

The Department of Transportation

strategic plan for the National Transpor-

tation System (NTS) urges emphasis on

those modes of transportation that pro-

mote those interests of critical impor-

tance to our country, including clean air,

reducing energy consumption and safe,

comfortable, and cost-effective transpor-

tation goals that ferry transportation em-

bodies. Ferry transportation is an

important and unique component of the

NTS which should be encouraged and

supported in those communities for

which it is applicable.

[H.R. 1630 was introduced on

May 15, 1997. It has been referred to the

House Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure where it is under review by

the Subcommittee on Surface Transpor-

tation and the Subcommittee on Coast

Guard and Maritime Transportation. To

research the status, contents, sponsors,

and other information on this or other

bills before the US Congress, go to

website http://thomas/.loc.gov, a service

of the US Library of Congress. -Ed.]

the Baltic Sea. Currently two such ships,

LAURA and JAANIKA are operated on

the Helsinki, Finland - Tallinn, Estonia

route by Tallink Express.

During OLYMPIA�s trials, there

was one negative phenomenon —

so-called singing of foils. The sound gen-

eration on the foil at cruising speed was

so intense that it violated the certification

requirements for passenger ships. Initial

measures could not eliminate this prob-

lem. I developed a mathematical model

of autovibration in the foil system at the

trailing edge of the wing based on von

Karman�s theory, theory of elasticity and

Lighthill equations. This model de-

scribed the experimental data well.

Using this model, the designers of

OLYMPIA and I developed a foil profile

that eliminated the “singing”of the foils

without diminishing their hydrodynamic

performance. We patented this method.

Here in Russia there are many hy-

drofoil projects in the proposal stage, but

after OLYMPIA, no new project has

come to fruition. Negotiations take place

constantly, but nobody wants to invest

money to develop new ships. All would

like to buy only ready ships. That�s why

OLYMPIA, KOLKHIDA, and others are

being built in small numbers, and there is

no opportunity to create a new hydrofoil.

All young specialists have left their de-

sign bureau to work for trading compa-

nies. Trade and oil are the only profitable

businesses in Russia now.

Most Russian designers and man-

agers of high-speed ships believe that the

USA will become the world leader in this

sphere in the near future. I agree with

them. There is money available that

could be invested in development of

high-speed ships, and there are geo-

graphic features (Great Lakes, Carib-

bean Islands, sea coastline) which enable

the hydrofoil to be the fastest and cheap-

est kind of transport in some areas.

MAJOR STUDY

(Continued From Page 1)OLYMPIA

(Continued From Page 7)

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 13

HYDROFOIL NEWS DIGEST

Continued on Next Page

FERRY OPERATORS IN A HURRYTO ADD FASTER CRAFT

by Linda Gillett

Marine Log May 1997

Though plenty of conventional

vessels are still being ordered, demand

for high speed ferries is continuing to

grow. There seems to be no let up in the

US and worldwide appetite for fast fer-

ries. Most US yards specializing in this

tonnage have healthy order books, and

word is that at least one of them will soon

announce an export order (no, don�t look

for it among the pending Title XI appli-

cations; it�s being financed through the

engine builder�s financing associate).

Demand is such that the main ob-

jective at Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding,

Somerset, MA, has become “faster

building time” according to its president,

George Duclos. “We subcontract outside

companies to build the hulls, while we

build the cabins,” he says. “There are just

not enough hours in the day to do both.”

Gladding Hearn is one of two US licens-

ees of Australia�s International Catama-

rans (the other is Nichols Brothers,

Whidbey Island, WA). Its range now in-

cludes vessels with composite hulls.

“Our decision to build composite

hulls came because we are continuously

developing hulls to be lighter,” says

Duclos. “The two 65 ft, Incat XP300 fer-

ries [FLYING CLOUD and LIGHT-

NING] we delivered to Water Transpor-

tation Alternatives for commuter service

between downtown Boston and Logan

Airport have strong composite hulls with

good acoustic and thermal insulation.”

Duclos is hoping to repeat the

company�s busy 1996 schedule of four

fast ferry deliveries. As well as the two

Incat XP300s, Gladding-Hearn supplied

a 85 ft ferry with a 400 passenger capac-

ity to Sayville ferries on Fire Island, and

the 31 knot FRIENDSHIP V, a 350 pas-

senger catamaran ferry.

Composite hulls aside,

Gladding-Hearn is currently building an

aluminum-hulled Superferry to operate

the Cape Cod-Nantucket route for

Hyline Cruises in Hyannis. The GREY

LADY II, a 149 passenger, 4,500 hp Incat

design fast ferry, is to replace the

1995-built GREY LADY I. “The GREY

LADY II is faster and has better Maritime

Dynamics Inc. ride control system. It�s a

tough run on that open water route, and

the ferries operate five or six times daily,

all year round, in any condition. Even

when the airport closes, the ferries are

still going,” Duclos explains. The cross-

ing on the new 35 kt ferry will be one

hour compared to a two-hour journey on

a conventional ferry. The GREY LADY II

is due for delivery in November 1997.

New York Cats

A New York operator in the mar-

ket for somewhat higher speeds is New

York Fast Ferry. Earlier this year, it put

two high-speed passenger catamarans

into service in New York Harbor. The

New York 38 design was developed by

Derecktor Shipyards, Mamaroneck, NY,

to meet the demands of a high-volume

commuter service in the city�s harbor.

Designed by Nigel Gee & Associates of

the UK, the two vessels, FINEST and

BRAVEST, load from the front and carry

350 passengers at 35 kt. The 37.7 m slen-

der hull catamaran produces a low wake

and has low fuel consumption.

“Derecktor Shipyards has seen in-

creased interest in ferry vessels, particu-

larly high-speed boats,” says Mary Ann

Clerkin of Derecktor. “Our clients are

from all around the world, many from

cities where ferry transportation was

once routine and is now sought as an eco-

nomical, environmental alternative.

Other customers have been involved in

ferry transportation for many years and

are in the market for new, high-tech ves-

sels to replace older boats which have be-

come outdated.”

Challenge to Incat

Though Incat designs have long

dominated the USA fast ferry scene, they

are now being challenged by designs

from another Australian shop - Ad-

vanced Multihull Designs.

Dakota Creek Industries,

Anacortes, WA, has been selected to

build Washington State Ferries�(WSF�s)

new fast passenger ferry, with an option

for a second. “The selection process was

long and complicated. We did not select

the ferry that was the cheapest to build,

but the ferry that would provide the best

life cycle cost and reliable service,” says

a WSF company spokesperson. “The fast

passenger ferry design is the AMD385,

capable of 34 kt nominal transit speed. It

is projected to have a low wake profile

that will permit us to operate at normal

transit speed through Rich Passage. That

means a run between Bremerton and

downtown Seattle of under 30 minutes,

which is half the usual trip time. The

ferry can do 30 knots with one engine off

line. That means our maintenance crews

can service high time engines without

taking the vessel out of service.” The 143

Disclaimer

IHS chooses articles and

photos for potential interest to IHS

members, but does not endorse

products or necessarily agree with

the authors’ opinions or claims.

Page 14 IHS Autumn 1997

HURRY TO ADD FAST FERRIES

(Continued From Previous Page)

ft 350-passenger vessel will have four

Detroit Diesel 16V149 engines, each at

1800 hp, and each driving Bird John-

son/MJP model J650 water jets.

Conventional Ferries

Besides fast ferries, WSF remains

in the conventional ferry market. The

Jumbo Mark II Class Ferries MV TA-

COMA and MV WENATCHEE, built at

Todd Shipyards, Seattle, and at its sub-

contractor, MCI in Bellingham, travel at

a moderate speed of 18 kt. Each 460 ft in

length, the two ferries will carry 2,500

passengers and 218 cars and will be the

first of three of a new breed of jumbo ves-

sels to enter service with WSF. The ves-

sels feature more comfortable seating,

reduced vibration, and lower noise lev-

els.

Another major conventional ferry

project is underway at Halter Marine,

Moss Point, MS, which is building a 120

car/750 passenger ship for the State of

Alaska, valued at $80.3 million and

scheduled for delivery next April. Atlan-

tic Marine Inc., Jacksonville, FL, earlier

this year delivered the passenger/vehicle

ferry JEAN RIBAULT built for State of

Florida, Department of Transportation.

The 168 ft x 64 ft ferry, designed by

Cunningham and Walker Marine Con-

sultants, Inc., St. Augustine, FL, can

carry 220 passengers and 40 vehicles. It

has replaced the operation of the 45-year

old BUCCANEER ferry between

Mayport and Fort George Island, FL.

Traveling at 12 knots, the ferry is pow-

ered by two EMD 645E6A main engines

at 975 hp each with Lufkin RS1616 re-

duction gears driving 66 inch 4 bladed

bronze propellers at each end. The vessel

has two Detroit Diesel 60 kW 1,200 rpm

main generators and one 25 kW emer-

gency generator set.

Blount Industries, Inc., Warren,

R.I., is currently beginning the engineer-

ing work on a 125 ft 800 passenger ferry

for an undisclosed client. The two-deck,

monohull ferry will have a 28 ft beam

and a design draft of 7 ft. Three engines,

providing a total of 1350 hp, will give the

ferry a service speed of around 14 knots.

Delivery is to take place in early 1998.

Hawaiian SLICE

A new ferry design is being con-

sidered for Hawaiian waters [see article,

page 11]. “The SLICE is an economi-

cally feasible option for a medium-speed

ferry for inter-island operation in Ha-

waii,” says Michael Schmicker, vice

president of business development for

Pacific Marine, Honolulu. “There is no

other state in the US, with the possible

exception of Alaska, that has the same

sea state conditions as Hawaii. Our

open-ocean sea state means we get 8-12

ft seas in winter, sometimes even reach-

ing 16 ft. This provides a tremendous

challenge to the ride quality of a ferry.

We had originally considered the

SWATH vessel as an option, as all cata-

marans and monohulls would not con-

tend with the ride. Increasing the

SWATH�s speed (20 kt) to that of a me-

dium-speed or fast ferry would mean

doubling the horsepower, and that is not

cost effective. The SLICE, on the other

hand, is 50 percent faster than the

SWATH, reaching higher speeds for the

same horse power (3,425 hp for each

MTU engine on the prototype).”

The 104 ft, 30 knot SLICE proto-

type incorporates a high-speed SWATH

ship technology designed by Lockheed

Martin and built in Hawaii by Pacific

Marine under a cooperative agreement

with the US Navy�s Office of Naval Re-

search. “Hawaii needs an inter-island

ferry transport system, and we will ulti-

mately get one. We hope it will be in the

form of the SLICE ferry. It will have two

applications, serving the tourist market

as a sight seeing passenger ferry, and

then as a mixed traffic vessel, carrying

cars and trucks, for the local market.”

Continued on Next Page

Casino Service

Though the first boat from the

Mashuntucket Pequot Tribal Council�s

new yard in New London, CT, will serve

its Foxwoods casino, the tribe has taken

no gamble on its design. It will be a FBM

Marine Group TriCat. Proven in Hong

Kong, the TriCat, which is powered by

Taurus 60 M gas turbines, will attain 51

kt. The tribe has rights to build and sell

TriCats in North and South America, the

Caribbean and Hawaii.

Bigger As Well As Faster

“The trend in Europe and Scandi-

navia is towards larger [fast] ferries, par-

ticularly those in the 100-150 vehicle

capacity range,” says Dave Luck, man-

ager, marine applications and ship inte-

gration, GE Marine & Industrial

Engines.

And while demand in the Asia Pa-

cific has tended to be towards high speed,

passenger-only ferries, he envisions re-

quirements for more vehicle capable

high speed vessels could develop in the

future.

“There are even some of these

type vessels being looked at in the US as

a means of transportation,” he notes. But

unlike Europe where ferries have tradi-

tionally been a preferred form of trans-

portation, Luck points out that US

interest in high-speed vehicle/passenger

ferries has to be cultivated. With the

MDV 3000 order, GE�s portfolio in the

fast ferry market includes applications of

12 LM2500 gas turbines in two

Aquastrada Class vessels and three Stena

HSS 1500 catamarans.

“Gas turbines, either in combina-

tion with diesels or by themselves, have

advantages for both cats and monohulls,”

states Luck. “While there is considerable

debate over which hullform is better, we

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 15

HURRY TO ADD FAST FERRIES

(Continued From Previous Page)

fit in both markets quite well, particu-

larly in weight-sensitive applications.”

If owners are looking to build op-

erational flexibility into a fast ferry, they

must also consider the stricter standards

regarding NOx exhaust emissions. An

advantage claimed for gas turbines is that

NOx emissions are about one-third to

one-fourth of the output of an equivalent

diesel engine on a per unit basis.

Chantiers de l�Atlantique, GEC

Alsthom�s shipbuilding subsidiary, has

won an order to supply a 11500

Corsaire-type high speed monohull car

ferry to Sweden�s Rederi AB Gotland.

The order follows a cooperation agree-

ment signed recently between Chantiers

de l�Atlantique and Leroux & Lotz. The

112 m ferry will carry 700 passengers

and 140 cars at a service speed of 35

knots between Stockholm and the island

of Gotland. Built jointly by the two ship-

yards, the ferry will have a steel deep V

hull with an aluminum superstructure.

Propulsion is supplied by four 7080 kW

CALL FOR PAPERS

International Conference on High

Performance Marine Vehicles

24-26 February 1999

Zevenwacht, South Africa

Papers are invited on the design

and operation of high-performance ma-

rine vehicles such as hydrofoils,

wing-in-ground (WIG), air-cushioned

vehicles (ACV), surface effect ships

(SES), fast monohulls, multihulls, etc.

and related topics such as hydrodynamic

or structural analyses, economic and eco-

logical aspects, etc. Papers of a survey

character are encouraged and will be

given extra printing space. Authors are

encouraged to give value to the readers,

such as detailed design data or details of

methods. Abstracts should make clear

which details will be revealed. There will

be no parallel sessions. Each paper will

be allotted 10 pages of printing space on

A4 format, and each lecturer will be al-

lowed 20 minutes for the presentation.

Proceedings will be bound in hard-cover.

Key Dates

Submission of abstracts: 1 Sep 98Notification of acceptance: 14 Sep 98Submission of papers: 1 Nov 98Early registration : 1 Nov 98Conference dates: 24-26 Feb 99

Current Details for HiPer ‘99 are

posted at website: http://www1.sun.ac.za/local/academic/fak_ing/meg_ing/home.html.

For early registration, contact Dr.

Volker Bertram, Ship Technology Re-

search; Lammersieth 90; 22305 Ham-

burg, Germany; tel: +49-40-2984-3173;

fax: +49-40-2984-3199; electronic mail:

bertram@schiffbau.uni-hamburg.d400.de.

To submit an abstract, contact

Gerry Thiart, University of Stellenbosch

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; 7600

Stellenbosch; South Africa; tel:

+27-21-8084261; fax +27-21-8084958;

email: thiart@maties.sun.ac.za.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY

IHS Member Malin Dixon is un-

dertaking to design a small hydrofoil

boat that is an alternative to a Rigid In-

flatable Boat (RIB). Malins runs an elec-

tronics company in England and finds

that the main thing he is short of is time to

apply to this project. Is there an engineer-

ing graduates who would be interested in

coming to work for Malin to get this off

the ground (or water)? Is there a designer

with a similar or compatible project in

mind that would like to collaborate? If

so, contact Malin Dixon by email for

more information (malin@onspec.co.uk).

STUDENTS WANTED

IHS membership costs full-time

students only US$2.50 per calendar year.

MEMBER NEWS

V. H. Van Bibber is preparing an

article on the Personnel Transport Mod-

ule (PTM) now being produced for the

US Navy’s Landing Craft Air Cushion

(LCAC). Van Bibber was involved in the

design and manufacture of these modular

units, which can be set up quickly on the

LCAC cargo deck and used to transport

troops or to evacuate civilians and casu-

alties. When not in use, the PTM can be

disassembled and stored in one 8 ft. x 8 ft.

x 20 ft. van.

At the end of June 1995, Charles

G. Pieroth left (Northrup) Grumman af-

ter 32 years and established Sound Tech-

nology Management, Inc., a consulting

firm that provides technology planning

and licensing services.

CDR John W. Peterson, USN is

finishing his second year in the Washing-

ton DC area serving in J-3 on the Joint

Staff. He is looking forward to taking

command of USS HOPPER (DDG 70)

late next year. This ship will be some-

what slower than his previous command,

USS HERCULES (PHM 2), but he thinks

he will make do somehow!

IHS regrets to report the passing

of Marilyn Martin, who was killed in a

car accident on September 21, 1997

while on a business trip in Pascagoula

MS. Marilyn is well known to those who

worked with the PHMs as the NAVSEA

person in charge of logistics. Marilyn re-

tained her active interest in the PHMs af-

ter they were sold for scrap, and in her

spare time she was helping Eliot James

and B. J. Meinhof obtain manuals, draw-

ings, and parts to restore ex-PHM 5,

which they bought at auction. At her me-

morial service in Alexandria VA, the

mourners sang two hymns chosen by her

family because they were Marilyn’s fa-

vorites — both were Christmas carols —

and the choice was both poignant and ap-

propriate. Marilyn will be missed as an

exceptionally competent and caring

Page 16 IHS Autumn 1997

HYDROFOILVOYAGER

by David A. Keiper

“If someone told you that a Force

4 puff of wind on 380 sq. ft. of sail could

lift a sailing yacht weighing a ton and a

half right out of the water, and make it go

faster than the true wind speed, you

might not believe him. But that is exactly

what can be done.” So begins Hydrofoil

Voyager, David Keiper�s story of how he

designed and built the 31�4" sailing yacht

WILLIWAW, then logged almost 20,000

miles of cruising around the Pacific to

test and fine tune the design. You�ll

never get closer to boat building,

open-ocean sailing, and hydrofoiling

without actually doing it yourself. Keiper

tells his own story, and the precision of

his telling — he seems to recall every

wave, squall, and leak — pulls you into

the adventure with him. Read, and you

are there, thrilled as the hull surges up to

sprint on its foils; impatient as the sea

goes flat in a dying wind; inventive as

some new crisis presents itself for a solu-

tion hundreds of miles from land.

Hydrofoil Voyager is rich with

hard-earned insight on how to design,

build, and sail your own boat, hydrofoil

or not. By “living” through a design�s

trial by sea, you gather the lessons as they

become evident through experiences

during the voyage. You confront the

Book Review...

Setting the bow foil by inserting one

of two shear bolts below the water-

line. It is a wet job out at sea.

problems along with the author, and you

arrive with him at solutions by following

his reasoning (not all of the “how to”

nuggets are buried in the story, however;

if you prefer your data bulletized, go to

the appendix “How to Build a Hydrofoil

Sailing Yacht”).

Design and construction details

are not the end of useful information in

Keiper�s book. The author (with readers

in tow) also faces the perils of infectious

disease on remote islands, creates ways

to pay for extended voyages, and solves

the thorny problem of recruiting female

crew (yachting is largely a male sport,

unfortunately).

Will there be a Hydrofoil Voy-

ager, Part II? As Keiper muses, “...

somehow, the time, the place, the situa-

tion, and the money, all have to come to-

gether as they did when I created

WILLIWAW. I trust that these things will

all come together... I would be happy to

work in partnership with others to bring

about the reality of hydrofoil trimarans

sailing all over the world.” Meanwhile

Keiper is creating new designs on his

computer and manufacturing foil kits for

daysailing catamarans and power boats.

IHS members may order Hydro-

foil Voyager directly from Hinsdale

Press, 123 South Pacific Street, Cape

Girardeau MO 63703 USA to receive the

discounted price of US$25 incl. shipping

(US$7 extra for shipment overseas). You

can contact the author by email at

dvpw98e@prodigy.com and visit his web

site http://www.igateway.net/~dakh.

[Reviewed by Barney C. Black]

The late afternoon sun catches WILLIWAW streaking across Hawaiian waters

at 20 knots, powered by the northeast tradewinds. The hard-working leeward

foil is almost hidden in its own spray. Molokai Island is seen in the distance.

Retracting WILLIWAW‘s stern foil

Note that the additional material on

this partial page was intended for the

Newsletter, but there was not space to

include it. The printed edition was

and is limited to 16 pages. There was

no electronic version available in

those days. - Editor

IHS Autumn 1997 Page 17

IHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1995-1998 1996-1999 1997-2000

William M. Ellsworth Jerry Gore Mark R. Bebar

William J. Erickson Jim King William Hockberger

John R. Meyer Mark Rice George Jenkins

Peter Squicciarini Ken Spaulding Ralph Patterson

ABOUT THE IHS WEBSITE

The announcements area provides

an immediate forum to publicize upcom-

ing news and other items of interest that

otherwise would have to wait for the

quarterly newsletter. This forum is avail-

able to the members and to individuals or

organizations with news of interest to

hydrofoilers. Submit announcements to

IHS via email or by post.

A separate page contains links to

other relevant websites. If you provide

hydrofoil related services, your website

should be there... let IHS know. There is a

tremendous range and wealth of infor-

mation accessible from this page, so it is

well worth exploring here.

The Stories of the Hydrofoil Pio-

neers page aims to put all the past news-

letter articles in this category onto the

web. Unfortunately, progress has been

slow getting this information up due to

the volunteer editor’s inexperience with

graphics as well as other demands on his

time. This is an area where some outside

help would be greatly appreciated.

For the future, we would like to

improve the postings section from its

present rudimentary state to a fully func-

tional usenet??? usernet??? with search

capability, ability to thread messages on

similar subjects, listserver, etc. But this

will have to wait for a volunteer with the

knowledge and time to implement it. The

day may come.

But now and in the future we need

for knowledgeable hydrofoilers to visit

the postings page periodically and help

out with answers to some of the inquiries

we receive. If you can answer one of the

questions asked, go ahead and corre-

spond directly with copy to IHS... just

click on the inquirer’s name to open an

email message and let the process of

communication proceed. And if you are

the one with the question, then ask away!

LETTERThe NEWSInternational Hydrofoil Society

P. O. Box 51, Cabin John MD 20818 USA

Editor: Barney C. Black Co-Editor: John R. Meyer

I was active in small-boat hydrofoil development from 1952 to1960. During this period, I designed about 12 hydrofoil configurations,and then built and tested them with the help of my father. I obtained apatent on the final hydrofoil design, and licensed it to a company inCalifornia which made and sold about 80 all-aluminum kits for con-verting planing boats to hydrofoil boats. My story may help others todesign and build a hydrofoil, or to develop a hydrofoil kit for sale.

I worked in torpedo hydrodynamics at a US Navy laboratory inPasadena CA. My father had a shop in his garage at nearby Redlands.I typically spent a few weeks designing each new hydrofoil configura-tion, and then my father and I would spend the next few weekendsmaking hydrofoils, and testing them at Lake Elsinore or the Salton Sea.All designs consisted of add-on foils which converted existing 14-ft to16-ft boats into hydrofoil boats. The hydrofoils typically added tenmph, doubled the fuel mileage, and smoothed the ride in waves.

All of my earlier hydrofoils were made of steel. Their upper andlower surfaces were curved plates welded at the leading and trailingedges, and then finished by carefully grinding the two edges to therequired shapes. The later hydrofoils were made from 6-inch alumi-num extrusions using a die — ordered from Alcoa — which had a16-510 NACA airfoil cross section.

WINTER 1997-98

HYDROFOIL VIDEO ANYONE?

Your Board of Directors is consid-ering the possibility of creating a half-hour video documentary of “HydrofoilHistory” with the cooperation of the USNaval Surface Warfare Center, CarderockDivision. We plan to write a narrative andassemble video clips collected over manyyears to depict the worldwide develop-ment of hydrofoils. The video will treatearly concepts, many small, experimentalcraft, commercial and military hydrofoils,closing with the Foilcats of today. IHSwould pay only for narration costs, butthis requires dipping into the IHS treasury.We believe it is prudent to proceed only ifthere is enough interest on the part of IHSmembers to purchase such a video to helpdefray these costs. It can be assumed thatthe price will be compatible with the “go-ing rate” for videos of this length andsubject matter, approx. US$30. IHS there-fore needs your input.Please give us yourreaction to this proposal by email(foiler@erols.com) or regular mail.

See Hydrofoil Kits, Page 3

Hydrofoil Pioneers...

SMALL-BOAT HYDROFOILING IN THE

1950s — THE STORY OF THE

UP-RIGHT HYDROFOIL KITS

ByThomas G. Lang

INSIDE...

M President’s Column (2)

M New Members (2)

M Peter Payne, Melvin Brown,and Bob Ripley (6)

M Letters to the Editor (7)

M News Digest (10)

Although somewhat belated, I sin-cerely hope all IHS members and theirfamilies enjoyed the Holiday Season andwill have a happy and rewarding 1998.

As we look back over 1997, wehave a lot to be proud of regarding ouraccomplishments as a Society — con-stantly moving ahead to fulfill its pur-poses and objectives. I personallyappreciate the time and effort of the IHSofficers and Board of Directors. Thanksespecially go to Barney Black and thosewho have supported him in his manypersonal contributions to the modern-ization of the Society, bringing it into theelectronic age. I can’t really say enoughabout that because words are inadequate.

The IHS website includes a Hy-drofoil Tutorial. Although brief and rudi-mentary, it is now complete with figuresto illustrate the text. Some of these fig-ures need improvement in quality — andwe are working on that. Also, a host ofhydrofoil pictures have been incorpo-rated in the Photo Gallery. We will beadding text to describe each hydrofoil.Also, more photos will be added. I re-quest members (and others) to send ingood quality photos that are missing andwould be good additions to the Gallery.

I hope that all of you on the In-ternet will look into the IHS Home Pagefrom time to time as additional materialand improvements are made. Barney’slinks to other organizations are reallyfantastic — performing a great service topeople like myself who are not as adeptat “surfing the net” as Barney is.

Your Board of Directors, whomeet every month, are struggling withthe challenge of hydrofoil informationdistribution. IHS receives many requestsfor information. The challenge is to make

the information, reports, and papers, etc.available to first, our members, then toother hydrofoil enthusiasts without con-suming a lot of volunteer time and finan-cial assets of the Society. A policy on thismatter is being developed. All memberswill be advised shortly.

We will continue to need every-one’s support and help in 1998, as wehave further plans for doing great thingsto improve services to our own membersand others interested in hydrofoils.

In a different vein, it is alwaysregrettable to report the passing of ourfellow hydrofoilers. We learned of three,namely, Mel Brown, Bob Ripley, andPeter Payne. Bob Johnston has done amasterful job of writing tributes to BobRipley and Mel Brown in this Newsletter.You will also find Bob Ripley’s eulogy,written by his son, on the IHS website.Peter Payne, long known to many of us,only recently had joined IHS. His mostrecent hydrofoil contribution was deliv-ered at FAST ‘97 in a paper “On theMaximum Speed of the Dynafoil.” Thiswas the last of his many varied technicalcontributions to this interesting field.

As I have reminded all of youmany times, the Society is an all-volun-teer organization, and we rely on the fi-nancial support of our members to payoperating expenses. You will find withthis Newsletter a “DUES NOTICE.” Itwill be much easier during the remainderof 1998 if all will respond during the nextfew weeks to this call for dues. Thosewho have been negligent about their1997 dues, please recover your reputa-tion by enclosing a double check to coverboth years.

Best wishes for a great 1998!

John R. Meyer, President

PRESIDENT’S COLUMNWELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Michael Koronaios has beena student at Staffordshire Univer-sity in England for 2 years, and hewill complete his studies in June of1998. His Bachelor’s major is inbusiness, but he plans to study onemore year to obtain his MBA. Nextsemester he will work on a market-ing planning project for a Greekhydrofoil company. He has had dif-ficulty finding information abouthydrofoils or fast ferries (includingthe market for hydrofoils, or infor-mation from hydrofoil companies,how they prepare their marketingplans, etc.). He is seeking help fromanyone who has or can direct him tosuch information.

CLARIFICATION

Dr. Georg Brustad of Dynamicaa/s informs us that after reading the arti-cle “Development of a Hull Form” in theAutumn 1997 IHS Newsletter, that thereader gets the impression thatNavatek/Pacific Marine has rights to theride control system of theFOILCAT2900; however, rights to this system be-long to Dynamica, according to Dr. Brus-tad. For more information contact Dr.Brustad by email (gb@dynamica.no) orvisit his website athttp://www.dynamica.no.IHS did not intend to make any assertionabout the rights to this system, and has nomeans of verifying such rights.

1998 DUES ARE DUE

IHS Membership is still onlyUS$20 per calendar year (US$2.50for students). Your renewal or newmembership is important and needed.Please remit 1998 dues as soon aspossible to IHS at PO Box 51, CabinJohn MD 20818 USA. Overseas resi-dents with no easy way to send USfunds overseas should contact IHS forsuggestions.

Page 2 IHS Winter 1997-98

HYDROFOIL KITS

(Continued From Page 1)

Continued on Next Page

The first few configurations con-sisted of two surface-piercing, V-shapedhydrofoils mounted in tandem on a 14-ftrowboat, with different kinds of roll-sta-bilizing means attached to each side. Fig-ure 1 is a photo of one of these earlierhydrofoil configurations which was sta-bilized in roll on each side by a spring-mounted planing plate. The outer ends ofthe planing plates were bent upward tohelp keep the plates from submerging inturns. The bow foil angle was controlledby a control stick which could either belocked in position, or operated by a pas-senger in the front seat. The boat waspowered by a 10-hp Mercury outboard,and achieved 32 mph with 2 people onboard. We sportingly called it “the fastestrowboat in the world.”

Other side-mounted roll stabi-lizers evalutated on this boat included:(a) a negative-dihedral hydrofoil, (b) thesame foil with a welded-on tip extensionwhich had a positive dihedral, (c) a hori-zontal, arc-shaped planing foil placedflush with the bottom of the boat at thetransom, and (d) a small V-shaped foilattached to the underside of the horizon-tal planing foil. The latter design workedso well that we then eliminated the centerV-foil at the aft end, leaving simply onebow foil and two stern foils.

The next major set of hydrofoilconfigurations began with the designshown in Figure 2, consisting of a three-Vee, all-steel, clamp-on set of foils which

Fig. 1 — 1952 hydrofoil design, the“fastest rowboat in the world.”

could be mounted on most 14-to-16 footboats without bolts. The kit weighedaround 300 pounds. With a 25 hp Johnsonoutboard, the largest outboard availableat the time, this hydrofoil boat achievedabout 30 mph with a full load of fivepeople, and a maximum speed of about35 mph. The ride was remarkably good,even in fairly large breaking waves. Theboat was so stable that it could be oper-ated “hands off” in waves.

If the peak-to-trough height ofbreaking waves reached around twice theoperating depth of the foils, then headwaves would begin to hit the hull, and thelarger following waves would occasion-ally cause the boat bow to plough into thewave crests, slowing the boat. This typi-cally only happened under conditionswhen other boats of a similar size headedfor shore for safety. This hydrofoil boatoperated well in large ocean swells be-cause they are typically fairly long, so theboat simply followed the water surface.

Fig. 2— This 1954 three-Vee hydrofoilattained 35 mph with a 25 hp Johnsonoutboard. The author is driving, andhis father is seated next to him.

After several months of use, it be-came clear that an all-steel kit was tooheavy and expensive to be marketable.Therefore, I purchased an extrusion diefrom Alcoa, and all subsequent foils weremade from extruded aluminum, togetherwith their attachments. To save weightand cost, the foil units were designed tobe bolted on. Figure 3 shows one of ournext all-aluminum, hand-made foil con-figurations attached to a fiberglass boat.

Figure 4 shows the bow foil. Notethe plate extending above the center ofthe foil tube; this plate is used for adjust-ing the foil angle. The plate angle is con-trolled by a short threaded rod which isattached by a universal joint to a long rodhaving a handle located near the driver.The bow foil angle is adjusted by rotatingthe rod, and can be adjusted when under-way. The bow foil is retracted by remov-ing two bolts from the central collar, andthen pivoting it up and over the bow.

Fig. 3— One of the first all-aluminumhydrofoil designs mounted on an exist-ing fiberglass boat. With a 40 hp ScottAtwater outboard motor, this boatachieved around 39 mph.

Fig. 4 — The bow foil is attached byfour bolts. Note the angle adjustmentplate and threaded rod positionedabove the center of the cross tube.

Figure 5 is a close-up photo of astern foil mount. The hydrofoil angle canbe adjusted at rest by rotating the largeknob shown in the photo. Also shown, isa spring-loaded motor mount which per-mits a short shaft outboard to be usedwith a standard short transom; this mountautomatically lowers the motor about 5inches when thrust is applied. Alterna-tively, a long shaft outboard can bemounted on a standard short transom.

IHS Winter 1997-98 Page 3

HYDROFOIL KITS

(Continued From Previous Page)

The motor shown in Figure 5 is a 40 hpScott Atwater. A 35 hp Evenrude wasalso used on this boat. With either motor,speeds of around 39 mph were achievedwith two people in the boat.

Continued on Next Page

We designed and tested several al-ternative bow foils in the 1950s, includ-ing a base-vented bow hydrofoil, asuperventilated bow hydrofoil, and aspring-mounted bow foil designed so thatits angle of attack automatically reducedwhen lift and/or drag increased. Thebase-vented hydrofoil concept was pat-ented as US #3,077,173 in 1963. How-ever, these alternative foils did not seemto work as well as the final bow design.

A note of caution for future hydro-foil designers: No matter how careful oneis, the chances are that the foils will hiteither a floating or a submerged obstacleif a boat is used often enough. For safety,I recommend attaching foils with shearbolts or shear links. To recover a sheared-off foil, a cord several-hundred-feet longis recommended. I once tried to retain asheared-off foil with a 15 ft cable, but thecable snapped. Another mistake is to de-sign a V-foil to rotate about a horizontalaxis after hitting an obstacle. I tried thisone time, and hit an unseen mud bar. Thebow foil sheared off as designed, but therear foils rotated back about 15 degrees,scooped up mud, and broke the transom.

I found that a reasonable design load forshearing off a foil is around 500 pounds.If the design load is too small, the foilsbreak free too often; if the design load istoo large, people can be hurt and/or theboat damaged. I once hit an empty sodacan floating on the surface that wrappedaround the bow foil. The drag of the canwas not large enough to shear the foil off,but it caused my passenger and me to loseour seats and receive minor bruises, butfortunately nothing got broken.

I ap-plied in 1959for patents onthe final hy-drofoil con-figuration andon the spring-loaded motormount. Thepatents wereissued in 1963as US #3,094,960 and #3,140,685. In1960, I licensed these pending patents toUp-Right Scaffold Co. (Berkeley, CA)whose scaffold materials, namely alumi-num extrusions and castings, were alsosuitable for the foil kits. This companyquickly designed and made the necessarytooling, and began selling Up-Right Hy-drofoil Kits in 1961, Figure 6, for $375.

Figure 7 shows a production bowfoil in its retracted position. This bowunit is mounted using four bolts.

Fig. 5— Each aft hydrofoil is bolted tothe transom, and retracts about a 45-degree axis at the inboard end. Notethe adjustable spring-loaded motormount, and the short-shaft outboard.

Figure 8 shows a stern foil in itsretracted position. Each stern foil is at-tached to the transom with three bolts.

Figure 9 (next page) shows a 15-ftfiberglass boat outfitted with the produc-tion foil kit. With a 65-hp Mercury out-board, this boat achieved 47 mph. Theunique aspects of this foil configurationare in the use of: (1) differential dihedralangles, (2) rear hydrofoil splay, (3) spe-cial overall shapes with quick-mountingmethod, (4) a retraction system, (5) meth-ods for foil angle adjustment, (6) meansto release foils upon impact, (7) an op-tional motor mount, and (8) an optionalpropeller design. To elaborate on each ofthese unique aspects of the configuration:

(1) The outer sides of the rear V-foils have a 30 deg. dihedral angle, whiletheir inner sides have a dihedral angle of45 deg. This differential dihedral pro-duces a roll moment when turning thatmakes the boat bank nicely into turns.Also, the bow foil had a 35 deg. dihedralin the upper part, and 45 deg. dihedral inthe lower part; for a given hydrofoildepth, this design provided more takeoffarea, and a higher turn rate at designspeed than a foil with a constant dihedral.

Fig. 6

Fig. 7— The bow foil can be retractedfrom the driver’s seat, or adjusted inangle by the driver when underway.

Fig. 8 — Each stern hydrofoil ismounted to the transom with threebolts, one of which is used to adjust itsangle by rotating the large knurledknob. The small container with theblack lid to the left of the inner end ofthe foil contains 500-ft of coiled cordfor retrieving the foil if it hits an obsta-cle and shears free from its mount.

Page 4 IHS Winter 1997-98

HYDROFOIL KITS

(Continued From Previous Page)

(2) The rear Vees were splayedrearward about 1.5 deg. as a safety fea-ture. This splay caused the outer part ofeach rear Vee to operate at a lower angleof attack than the inner parts of the Vees.In the tightest turns, without this splay,the outer side of the outer foil wouldventilate first, causing the boat to sud-denly tilt out of the turn. However, withsplay, the inner side of the inner V-foilventilates first, causing the boat to tiltstrongly into the turn (much safer).

(3) The rear foil extrusions werebent into a triangular shape which pro-vided a continuous surface consisting ofa V-foil with an inverted horizontal por-tion welded together at the upper inboardcorner. Prior to bending, the horizontalportion was placed in a special press, andits camber was reversed so that, afterbending, this portion provides lift whenimmersed. The horizontal portion of eachrear foil was mounted above the bottomof the boat, but low enough so that ithelped to reduce trim at hump speed be-fore takeoff. During turns, the horizontalsurface of the inner hydrofoil dips intothe water and generates lift to help in-crease the turn rate and control the bankangle. The bow hydrofoil assembly ismounted with two bolts through the bowstem, and one bolt rearward on each side.Each stern foil is mounted with threebolts through the transom.

(4) The Vee bow foil is attached toan above-water horizontal tube. To re-tract, the foil and tube are rotated until thefoil is a little beyond its inverted position.The foil is rotated by two cables whichare wrapped around the foil tube on oneend, and around a ratchet winch on theother end which is located near the driver.After raising the bow foil, the boat bowcan be beached, typically without raisingthe aft foils. After leaving shore, the bowfoil is lowered by releasing a catch on the

ratchet, and gently pushing the bow foilforward with a paddle until gravity takesover to rotate it back down until it restsagainst an adjustable stop. For trailering,the rear foils retract about a fore-and-aftaxis, angled around 45 deg. from thevertical, which permits them to pivot up-ward and backward out of the water.

(5) The bow foil can be adjusted inflight by rotating a rod with a handlelocated near the driver. Such an angleadjustment is needed if one or two pas-sengers move from the front seat to theback seat, or if five or six passengers arecarried instead of one or two. Generally,the rear foil angles do not require chang-ing; however, they can be changed byrotating a large knurled knob which ad-justs the angle of a plate attached to eachfoil relative to the transom.

(6) All three foils are attached byshear links so that each foil will individu-ally shear free of the boat if it strikes anobstacle with a force greater than about500 pounds. Each foil is recoverable bya 500-ft cord attached to the boat.

(7) Typically, a standard long-shaft outboard motor is mounted on aboat with a transom designed for a short-shaft outboard in order to lower the pro-peller 5 inches for hydrofoil operation.Alternatively, I designed and patented a Continued on Next Page

Fig. 9 — Boat equipped with the production Up-Right Hydrofoil Kit. This boatachieved 47 mph with a 65 hp Mercury outboard, and could carry six people.

spring-loaded motor mount which at-taches to the boat transom so that theoutboard motor will automatically lowerabout 5 inches when thrust is applied.When thrust stops, the springs automat-ically retract the outboard back to itsoriginal position, well above the waves.

(8) It was not in the kit, but Ideveloped a special propeller which im-proved on the then-available propellersfor faster boats. Basically, this prop actedmuch like an automatic transmissionwith overdrive. The propeller was de-signed to superventilate (from exhaustgas emerging from its hub) when the boataccelerated from rest so that full engineRPM and power are available. The propthen automatically base ventilated uponreaching about 25 mph, and the enginespeed reduced about 1,000 RPM, provid-ing the overdrive feature. The prop thenremained base ventilated up throughcruise speed. However, if accelerated tomaximum speed, the propeller again su-perventilated so that maximum engineRPM and power are available. I laterfound that this prop worked well evenwhen partly out of water; therefore itwould eliminate the need for either a longshaft outboard motor or a spring-loadedmotor mount. This propeller concept waspatented in 1963 as US #3,109,495.

IHS Winter 1997-98 Page 5

About 80 of the Up-Right Hydro-foil Kits were sold around the world in1961 and 1962, although most of the kitswere sold in the US. I heard that one kitwas used by the Boeing Company as achase boat for their hydrofoil craft. An-other kit was later resold and used by theNavy in Vietnam. The Up-Right com-pany did a fine job of manufacturingdesign and packaging. About 300 kits ayear had to be sold to be profitable, soproduction was discontinued in 1962. Istill have one unused kit, and one usedkit, both of which I would like to donateto a museum, but have not yet found onewhich has display space available.

Thomas G. Langlang@electriciti.com

HYDROFOIL KITS

(Continued From Previous Page)IN MEMORY OF MELVIN BROWN

by Robert Johnston

As I read the MITTechnology Re-view for Nov/Dec 1997, I learned thatMel Brown died on 16 Mar 97. Whilenever active in IHS, Mel was an earlycontributor to hydrofoil development.

Melvin W. Brown was commis-sioned in the US Navy upon graduationfrom the Naval Academy. He had an il-lustrious WWII war record as a survivorof the sinking of theUSS INGRAHAM.Out of crew of 230 he was one of 11 thatsurvived several days in the water beforebeing rescued. Mel told me that the longwait for rescue took many lives, but, hesaid every time he thought he couldn’tcontinue to hold on he told himself, “Ican’t die now, I haven’t even lived.”Upon being rescued, Mel continued hiswar experience in the South Pacific latertaking command ofUSS LUDLOW. Fol-lowing WW II Mel attended MIT and in1949 earned Masters Degrees in NavalArchitecture and Marine Engineering.After several years with the US NavyBureau of Ships he resigned his regularNavy commission in 1955 and joined theNaval Reserve, retiring as a Commander.

It was while on duty with the Bu-reau of Ships that he became involvedwith hydrofoils. These were the earlyyears when the Navy was trying to deter-mine whether there was any naval re-quirement for hydrofoils. Mel joined theteam of supporters that believed in thecontinuation of support for investigationof this principle. He was involved withthe planning of the necessary programsthat led to the construction of the R&Dvessels and ultimately the PGHs and thePHMs. In the meantime I had also joinedthe Naval Reserves and was heading theMiami Shipbuilding hydrofoil effort.When we received the contract to put theArmy’s DUKW on foils, we needed aprogram manager for this effort. Meljoined us as this program manager and

IN MEMORY OF BOB RIPLEY

by Robert Johnston

Robert K. died of a heart attackwhile playing golf near his family’s win-ter home at Sanford NC on 3 Dec 97. Ihave heard it said that a golfer’s wish isthat when his time comes he may be inthe middle of a golf game. There he isenjoying the blue of the sky, the green ofthe grass, and the lie of that little whiteball near an approach shot to the green.This must have been Bob’s wish alsorather than suffering a long illness.

As Captain Robert Ripley on dutyin the Pentagon, he was an outstandingsupporter of the hydrofoil concept formilitary applications. His duty there oc-curred while the US Navy’s policy wasto promote a NATO hydrofoil program.A NATO working group was formed tostudy advanced ship types and to selectthe platform best suited to performNATO missions. Four ship types wereconsidered. The British Navy supportedthe air cushion vehicle, the Swedish dele-gation argued strongly for their catama-

made significant contributions to the suc-cess of the Flying DUKW.

Mel’s interests in the amphibiousfield turned to using the air cushion con-cept for this application. Mel then joinedBell, where his interest in air cushionlanding craft developed. When BillEllsworth and Jim Schuler undertook theresponsibility for the Navy to developthis concept they brought Mel in to headthis effort at the David Taylor R&D Cen-ter. The success of this effort is displayedby current day acceptance of LCAC(Landing Craft Air Cushion) as the stand-ard for the Navy and Marines. Mel’s con-tribution to the US Navy will long beremembered, and we at IHS are proudthat he was also a “hydrofoiler.”

Continued on Page 9

IN MEMORY OF PETER PAYNE

Peter R. Payne headed up PayneAssociates in Severna Park, MD. Thoughhe became a member of IHS only re-cently, he has been associated with theAdvanced Vehicle world for many years.He designed and built the Avian 2-180VTOL autogyro in 1958-59, the mostrecent such aircraft to be FAA certified.He was responsible for the first twomanned SWATH-like craft, theFICATcatamarans, (1964-66). Other marine-re-lated firsts include the Gayle Boat seriesof supercritical planing hulls (1965-69),the first passive laminar flow underwatervehicle (1968), theSEAKNIFE(1971),theWAVESTRIDERfoil-supported cata-marans (1982-84) and the Dynafoil(1995).

Author of two textbooks and overa hundred archival publications, PeterPayne has been chiefly responsible forthe development of “added mass” plan-ing theory during the past 20 years. Hehas also been involved in the developingBOAT3D, the first general purpose time-domain PC computer program for fastboats.

Page 6 IHS Winter 1997-98

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continued on Next Page

1965 Classic

We have for sale a 6-seater hydro-foil: Classic 1965 Russian-built Volga 9Meter hydrofoil - Volvo Penta Diesel115HP - Aluminum hull, stainless steelfoils — restored in original boat showlivery. Call or send email for full info.

John Taylorphone (UK): 1736 33 10 18

john.taylor20@virgin.net

Pontoon Foils

Looking for a 18’ to 22’ standardor tri-toon pontoon boat used for recrea-tion (fishing and skiing). Top speedshould be somewhere around 35-40 mph,powered by an outboard motor. Majorconsideration is a very stable and smoothride on inland waterways and lakes.

George KelleyGKelley819@aol.com

[Attention hydrofoil entrepre-neurs: IHS has received several inquiriesabout add-on foils for pontoon boats...maybe an unexploited market. -Ed.]

Need Sea Scooter Info

I am looking for a picture/s of aSea Scooter built in the late 1960s. Notethe drawing[below] from 1969 US pat-ent 3,456,609 by Peter Thomas andMence Nott. The craft was built. I sawsome foilborne video clips with one per-son riding. I think they tried to market it.

Amiram Steinberg, Naval Architectamiram@netvision.net.il

Plans To Build

I am looking for the plans to buildthe ‘Solo Hydrofoil’ that was in the Sep67 issue ofMechanics Illustrated. It is “a1-man Hydrofoil; foam-filled fiber-glasshull by an Italian designer.” Have othersbuilt this that you are aware of? Is therea more modern design?

George Faulknorgfaulknor@corp.home.net

Super Cavitation

I am a Ph.D. student at the Univer-sity of Stellenbosch. I am looking forinformation on super cavitating hydro-foils (base ventilated and fully cavitat-ing) for possible application to hydrofoilsupported catamarans. Could you pro-vide me with references?

Gunther Migeottemigeotte@icon.co.za

[We do not have a handy long listof the many papers written on this sub-ject, but start with the IHS ReferencesPage athttp://www.erols.com/foiler. Refer-ence No. 62 will refer you to Young Shen(shen@oasys.dt.navy.mil). He is an expertin this field and can lead you to a morematerial. He is at the US Naval SurfaceWarfare Center, Carderock. Contact himand give him more specifics regardingyour particular project. - Ed.]

Grumman 14’ Runabout

I own a Grumman hydrofoil. It isa little over 14 ft. long. Its beam is about5 ft. It is of aluminum construction. Theribs and gussets show a definite aircraftinfluence. It flies on three foils, two for-ward and one full width astern. It is pro-pelled by a 40 hp outboard with anextended shaft and lower housing (fac-tory). Although I last rode in and saw thisboat running in the late 60s it is in somedisrepair at present. I believe that I havemost of the “original” parts to put it back

into running order. I am looking for anyand all information about this or sistercraft. The Manufacturer Tag gives thedata: Metal Boat Co. Div. of GrummanAircraft Eng. Corp. Ser # 4-G-14-RW.

Stew FischerStewandjan@aol.com

Response...

The foil system was developed byWilliam (Bill) P. Carl, President and ma-jor stockholder of Dynamics Develop-ment Inc. (DDI). DDI was acquired byGrumman Corp. when they decided toestablish a hydrofoil division. For sometime DDI manufactured the foils thatwere designed to be used with the Grum-man 14-ft aluminum runabout. The de-mand for this hydrofoil was steady butnot enough to become a major product ofGrumman. While I was head of Grum-man’s marine division we continued tostock spare parts and kits for customers.Grumman and Northrup became a newcorporation named Northrup Grumman.It is my understanding that even beforethis new conglomerate, the Grummanhydrofoil effort had ceased. I suspect thatany spare hydrofoil parts were out ofinventory before the merger. Perhaps BillCarl may have more info. If you wantdesign info he is the one to contact. Hemay know what happened to any spares.Bill’s address is: Mr. William P. Carl; POBox 767; Kilmarnock, VA 22482 USA

Bob JohnstonRJohns0199@aol.com

Gordon Baker’s MONITOR

I am interested in information onGordon Baker’s sailing hydrofoilMONI-TOR. My world wide web pagehttp://home.worldonline.nl/~hbsmits/hydrofoi.htmmight interest you.

ir. Hanno Smitshbsmits@worldonline.nl

IHS Winter 1997-98 Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(Continued From Previous Page)

[See the Hydrofoil Pioneers sec-tion and the Posted Messages section ofthe IHS website for MONITOR info andphoto. - Ed.]

Commercial Operating Costs

Does anyone have reliable costdata on the experience with the Jetfoilferries operating in Hong Kong. I’m in-terested in operating and maintenancecosts as well as any recent cost experi-ence in building new boats.

Stan SiegelStansiegel@aol.com

Response...

I think a lot of this kind of infoap-pears in Fast Ferry International articles.I don’t recall when I last saw anythingabout JetFoils, but I’m sure it has beenthere at times. In FFI you can find info onseasonal and annual traffic, revenues,profitability, various aspects of cost,costs of acquiring new craft (of all types)and facilities, etc. One may speculate onthe reliability of some of it, but my opin-ion is that it’s generally credible. I’minclined to think that if companies don’twant certain info to get out, they hold itclose and don’t put out spurious informa-tion just to confuse people. A fair amountof the same kind of info is presented atannual industry conferences such as Fer-ries’97 or Cruise+ Ferry, though again Idon’t know when JetFoils per se mayhave been discussed.

Bill Hockbergerhockberg@erols.com

TUCUMCARI Model Builder

Need info on PGH-2TUCUM-CARI. I have a Aurora model that I wantto build as accurately as possible to thereal thing while it was in the Far East.All I have to go on is the box art. The boxis dated 1969, kit #727-250. Aurora is outof business, and the kits are collectoritems. The kit title is “Boeing PGH-2

TUCUMCARI Hydrofoil.” These kitscan sell for over $100, so I’m going to bereal careful when I build it.I have a friendwho has [another] model kit ofTUCUM-CARI he would like to sell. He’s asking$75 for the kit, which is unbuilt. Pleaselet me know if you are interested ASAP.

Bill FaulknerWFaulk0001@aol.com

[Go to the Photo Gallery sectionof the IHS website. - Ed.]

Response...

TUCUMCARI particulars andplan and elevation views are in “Boats ofthe USN”, Navships 250-452 issued May1967 and available through the US Gov-ernment Printing Office. The booklet ofgeneral plans is PGH2-845-2533352. Iknow the set of drawings originally heldby SUPSHIP Seattle has been destroyed.

Sumi Arimaarimas1@juno.com

Russian/Chinese Diesel Engines

I am looking for the manufacturerof hydrofoil engines based in China.Originally the manufacturer of this par-ticular model was from Russia. The ves-sel is a ferry. I am not sure of themanufacturer of the engines, but I knowit is the same engine as used in the Chi-nese Navy; it was like an M-104A model.

Rachel L. HaynieRachel@hol.gr

Response...

We use engines M401A andM417A on hydrofoils METEOR andVOSKHODproduced now in Russia. Theproducer of these engines is AO“ZVEZDA”: Russia, 193012, St. Peters-burg, ul. Babushkina, 123; phone: +7-812-2620747, marketing department:+7-812-2628142, fax +7-812-2673776.

Konstantin Matveevmatveev@lili.teknikum.uu.se

Response...

I contacted China State Shipbuild-ing Corporation (CSSC) that is the state

owned enterprise and controls the mostof shipbuilding industry in China, includ-ing shipbuilding, engines and ship equip-ments. Under CSSC there are a numberof diesel factories for marine use. Amongthose, there are two factories manufac-turing high speed diesel engines for highspeed crafts and hydrofoils. They areLuoyang Diesel Factory and SichuanDiesel Factory. Luoyang Diesel Factoryis in Luoyang, Henan Province. It manu-factures 12V180 diesel, 1200 HP andMWM diesel 400-1000 HP. They havethe license of manufacturing MWM.Sichuan Diesel Factory is in SichuanProvince. They have the license to manu-facture STYER diesel about 1000 HP. Ifyou need detail information, please letme know the items. CSSC promised tooffer the information.

Shi-Tang Dongstdong@online.sh.cn

Hydrofoil Textbooks

I’m a French student leading a pro-ject entitled “The Hydroptère, Hydrody-namics of Foils.” My task is to do somecalculus with these foils. So please helpme in finding this information (I can’tlocate it anywhere)!

Sebastien Thelliersebastien.thellier@hol.fr

Sailing Catamaran

I am curious whether any com-pany or organization has added hydro-foils to a sailing catamaran. My cat is 44ft, fiberglass. It seems to me that foils canbe housed, extended, and retracted intothe underside of the area between thehulls. Are there commercially availablestock parts to do this?

Stevenkao@aimnet.com

Response...

As far as I know, no one puts foilson any 44-foot fiberglass sailing catama-rans. I assume that this is an offshore,

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Page 8 IHS Winter 1997-98

Letters To the Editor allows hy-drofoilers to ask for or provide informa-tion, to exchange ideas, and to inform thereadership of interesting developments.Much additional correspondence ispublished in the Postings section of theIHS web site. All are invited to partici-pate. Opinions expressed are those of theauthors, not of IHS.

IHS OFFICERS 1997 - 1998

John Meyer President

Mark Bebar Vice President

George Jenkins Treasurer

Ken Spaulding Secretary

cruising catamaran. I see quite a fewproblems involved, partly the way yousuggest doing it. Many cats have too littleclearance between the underbelly and thewater, and foils retracted to there wouldhook almost every wave coming through.The foils would also need some ratherfancy folding mechanisms. I fear the seawould make short work of the foils, tak-ing them apart quickly (the water forcesexerted on foils can be greater than oneton per square foot at times). Further, ifyour boat is solid fiberglass, it won’t lenditself well to foils and high speed sailing.Fiberglass can flex considerably, makingsecure foil attachment problematic. Also,as the fiberglass hulls flex, one can notkeep the rigging tight enough for effi-cient high-speed sail rigs. I don’t knowof any commercially available stock hy-drofoil parts: each company has to obtainits own extrusions, forgings, etc. A longtime ago, we offered some stock alumi-num foil extrusions, but soon discoveredthat experimenters were unable to utilizethem effectively.

David A. Keiperdvpw98e@prodigy.com

Where to Buy a Hydrofoil

We are interested in contacting abuilder for hydrofoils 70-80 passengersto operate in Lake Nicaragua. It has beendifficult to locate this information.

Raul F. Calvetcareli@ibw.com.ni

Response...

There are three types of Russianhydrofoils currently in production thatyou should consider:VOSJOD-2, ME-TEOR, and KATRAN (a variant of theKOLKHIDA). VOSJOD-2andMETEORare for freshwater rivers and lakes,though there is aVOSJOD-2variant, theVOSJOD-2M for salt water use;KA-TRAN is used on large lakes and in seaareas near the coast.VOSJOD-2is 27.6mlength, range of 270 nautical miles, 71

passengers, and crew of 4.METEORis34.6m length, range of 320 nm, 116 pas-sengers, and 5 crew.KATRANis 34.5mlength, range of 150 nm, 155 passengers,and 5 crew. Production time for eitherVOSJOD-2or METEORis 5-6 monthsafter signing of the contract; keep inmind, however, that winter weather con-ditions during the period Dec though Aprpreclude delivery ofMETEOR duringthose months. The price of either ship inthe production version, with optional airconditioning installed, is well belowUS$1M. You now have the option withMETEOR of substituting German en-gines for the standard Russian engines;however this raises your overall cost toslightly above US$1M.METEORis themost rapidly expanding type of hydrofoilin Russia. These ships are also supplied(with the air conditioning option in-stalled) to China. Production time forKATRAN is normally 10 months aftersigning of the contract, but keep in mindthe restriction on winter delivery. Yourcost for KATRAN will be betweenUS$2.0M and US$2.8M depending onmachinery, electronics, and outfitting op-tions that you select. Hydrofoils of thistype were supplied to the Virgin Islandsand are employed by Virgin HydrofoilService Inc.

Konstantin Matveevmatveev@lili.teknikum.uu.se

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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rans, the French group presented theirconcept for a SWATH vehicle, and theother nations led by the US delegation,presented a strong case for the hydrofoil.These discussion continued through sev-eral meetings of the working group inBrussels NATO headquarters. I wasprivileged to attend several meetings ofthis group, but one meeting stands out inmy mind. Most of the concepts had beenput aside with the exception of the cata-maran and the hydrofoil. The Swedishdelegation head, a Navy Captain, had thefloor and his big argument was that anyvehicle should be tried out under combatconditions. Then Bob Ripley took thefloor with his big deep voice and in hisown inimitable way said “Captain, if youwould like to join a war, come join ours.You might not like it, but it is the onlywar we have.” At that point discussionsceased, and the hydrofoil was adoptedunanimously. The rest is history with theUS building the PHMs, assisted in theearly design by the Germans and Italians.Italy built a smaller patrol hydrofoil, andthe British evaluated the hydrofoil prin-ciple by acquiring a Boeing-built mili-tary version of theJETFOIL.

Bob was an IHS stalwart. The timecame that the future of IHS was depend-ent upon moving the headquarters fromEngland to the USA, Bob Ripley was oneof the movers and shakers that broughtthis about, and IHS continues to grow andthrive with the management over here. Inmany of our meetings, Bob’s voice washeard, always in a constructive way andadding to the knowledge of the group.

Bob was raised in Montana andwas a 1949 US Naval Academy graduate.He earned a master of arts degree ineducation at Stanford University. Heserved in destroyers, cruisers, and am-phibious ships, and commanded threeships, two in combat zones. After his

BOB RIPLEY

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IHS Winter 1997-98 Page 9

HYDROFOIL NEWS DIGEST

More News Items on Next Page

SUPERJET-40 FOIL ASSISTEDCATAMARAN ORDERED

Fast Ferry Int’l, Nov 1997

Japanese-operator Ishizaki Kisenhas ordered an Hitachi Zosen Superjet-40foil assisted catamaran for operation be-tween the islands of Honshu and Shik-oku. The new design is a development ofthe Superjet-30, eight of which have beendelivered by Hitachi since 1993, includ-ing two to Ishizaki Kisen. Jointly devel-oped by the company in association withthe University of Tokyo and SetouchiCraft Company, the Superjet range, Hita-chi reports, “Provides passengers withimproved ride comfort even at highspeed. Hydrofoils located between theV-shaped hulls have auxiliary flapswhich control ship motion. This is sup-pressed to one-eighth compared withconventional catamarans.”

Compared with the Superjet-30sdelivered to Ishizaki Kisen, the Superjet-40 design is 7.5m longer and 1.6m wider,gross tonnage is 110 grt greater, passen-ger capacity is 25% higher and installedpower is more than doubled to increasemaximum speed by 7 knots.

The new vessel is to be introducedbetween Matsuyama and Moji. Sched-uled crossing time will be 2 hours 30minutes and two return journeys a day areto be operated.

Hitachi Superjet-40: Length over-all — 39.0m; Beam molded — 11.4m;Draught Without foils — l.9m; Displace-ment — 300 tonnes; Passengers — 200;Maximum speed — 45 knots; — Mainengines 4 x high speed diesels, 100%mcr, 2,750 ps; Propulsion— 2 x water-jets; Classification — JG

RIDE CONTROL RETROFITTED TOINCAT/NICHOLS 30M VESSEL

Fast Ferry Int’l, Nov 1997

Nichols Brothers Boat Buildersreported details of a refurbishment pro-gram completed earlier this year on anInternational Catamarans 30m vesselthat the Whidbey Island yard originallydelivered in 1986. Work included newpassenger interiors and the retrofitting ofa Maritime Dynamics Inc. (MDI) ridecontrol system utilizing aft trim tabs.

The vessel was purchased last yearby Catalina Channel Express Lines fromAlaskan operator Phillips Cruises &Tours. RenamedCAT EXPRESS,it re-en-tered service towards the end of May 97on the company’s routes between south-ern Los Angeles and Catalina Island.

Capacity is now 350 passengers intwin deck saloons and external seating onthe upper deck. Service speed, NicholsBrothers reports, is 28 kt, and the vesselnormally carries a crew of five or six.

According to the yard, “MDIworked closely with the vessel’s designerand Nichols Brothers to design a systemfor the vessel taking into account theprevailing sea conditions of the route.MDI provided the detail design and hullintegration of the trim tabs, the hydraulicspecifications, and the electronic control-ler. Nichols Brothers fabricated the trimtabs, and designed and procured the hy-draulic system.”

JETFOILS PROPOSED FOR THEVANCOUVER-VICTORIA RUN

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer re-ported on October 21, 1997 that severalferry operators submitted formal propos-als to B. C. Ferry Corp. to provide year-round, high speed ferry service betweenVancouver and Victoria. Far East Hydro-foil Co. Ltd. and Clipper Navigation, Inc.of Seattle WA teamed in a joint ventureto propose two 240-passenger Boeing929 Jetfoils operating daily from earlymorning until late at night from theSeaBus Terminal in downtown Vancou-ver to Swartz Bay north of Victoria, ac-cording to the Post-Intelligencer story.

Clipper Navigation now carries400,000 passengers a year between Seat-tle and Victoria using four high-speedcatamarans and thePRINCESS MAR-GUERITE III, a car-passenger ferryleased from B.C. Ferries. The Post-Intel-ligencer quoted Clipper NavigationPresident Darrell Bryan as predictingthat about 600,000 people would use theproposed new service the first year. FarEast Hydrofoil operates a fleet of 20 Boe-ing Jetfoils, carrying 11 million passen-gers a year between Hong Kong andMacau. The company is owned by Stan-ley Ho, who has extensive business inter-ests in Vancouver, according to thePost-Intelligencer article.

The Post-Intelligencer reportedthat a list of pre-qualified bidders forvarious potential fast-ferry routes in Brit-ish Columbia includes the Clarke Group,owner of Harbour Ferries of Vancouver,Spacious Yachts Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C.,and TTS Transportation Systems Inc.,also of Nanaimo. Other bidders includeoperators from New York, San Fran-cisco, London, Sydney, and Singapore.

Disclaimer

IHS chooses articles andphotos for potential interest to IHSmembers, but does not endorseproducts or necessarily agree withthe authors’ opinions or claims.

Page 10 IHS Winter 1997-98

REVOLUTION 98

Revolution98 is an Around TheWorld powerboat attempt to break the83-day record set in 1960 by the USnuclear submarineTRITON. You can jointhe adventure first hand by logging in(http://www.revolution98.com) to see theDaily Updates, Photos, and — once un-der way — the position of theREVOLU-TION. Official Start is from Miami FL onFebruary 28, 1998.

PHOTO GALLERY ADDED

The IHS website has a new gal-lery of hydrofoil photographs; go to :http://www.erols.com/foiler/fotos.htm. This isa modest beginning that will grow incre-mentally over time. IHS members andvisitors to the website are invited to sug-gest (and provide) additional photos forinclusion. The gallery also needs a one-paragraph description of each vessel fea-tured... please pick your favoritehydrofoil and draft the paragraph; IHScan use the volunteer help!

retirement, Bob stayed active in militaryaffairs as a member of the board of TheRetired Officers Association. He also en-tered Montana politics to run for the USSenate. He attracted a respectablenumber of votes, but was not elected.

Above all, Bob was great familyman. There is no better evidence of thisthan the profoundly moving tribute writ-ten by his son, Robert K. Ripley, Jr. Thetext is posted on the IHS website athttp://www.erols.foiler/ripley1.htm, and it iswell worth reading, even for those whodid not know Bob personally.

To Martha, Bob Jr., and the rest ofthe family: we share your grief in the lossof a good friend and a wonderful col-league. The “old timers” of IHS will bethe keepers of the corporate memory ofwhat Bob did for hydrofoils world wide,for the US Navy, and for the InternationalHydrofoil Society.

NEWS DIGEST

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AMV WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

If you want a package with a copyof each paper presented at the June 1997AMV Workshop, please send a check, tocover printing, handling and mailing, forUS$10.00 made out to the IHS at PO Box51, Cabin John MD 20818 USA.

IHS membership costs full-timestudents only US$2.50 per calendaryear. Why not join now?!

Students

Wanted

LLOYD�S REGISTER OUTLINESCHALLENGES FACING HIGH

SPEED CRAFT

Maritime Reporter Oct 97http://www.marinelink.com

The technical, environmental andhuman challenges confronting the rap-idly expanding high-speed craft industrywere recently highlighted by Chris Wade,managing director of the Marine Divi-sion of Lloyd’s Register (LR).

Speaking at FAST ‘97, Mr. Wadeemphasized that, to meet these chal-lenges, classification societies wouldhave to extend their involvement beyondstructure and machinery. The service ex-perience essential to calibrate theoreticalcalculations or to validate model experi-ments is still limited for larger high-speed craft.

In formulating its Special ServiceCraft (SSC) Rules, LR adopted a firstprinciples approach taking account of theenvironmental envelope for the intendedservice, the loads to which the craft issubject, the strength assessment, and theacceptance criteria.

With continued research, Wadefeels this philosophy may be extendedinto a load factor and resistance designapproach, a complete departure from theempirical rules which now predominate.

High speed craft can be con-structed from an array of materials in-cluding composites, aluminum alloys,high tensile steels or, increasingly, a com-bination of these materials. Concern inthis area, according to Mr. Wade, is re-lated to the ability to carry out effectiveand economic repairs on unforeseen cir-cumstances and in remote locations. Mr.Wade also suggested that classificationsocieties can and should play an impor-tant role in resolving these problemswhen they arise and, more importantly,prevent their recurrence by introducingrule changes.

BOB RIPLEY

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NEW BENEFIT

IHS provides a free link from theIHS website to members’ personaland/or corporate site. To request yourlink, contact Barney C. Black, IHSNewsletter and Home Page Editor atbcblack@erols.com.

IHS 25th Anniversary Celebra-tion/Conference Proceedings

To order a copy of theProceed-ings containing a complete collectionof papers presented,sendUS$18.50 forshipment within the US or $25 forinternational shipment to GeorgeJenkins, Treasurer; 713 S. OverlookDrive; Alexandria VA 22305 USA.

IHS Winter 1997-98 Page 11

HYDROFOIL SERVICE, TOURS

By Norita LeeVirgin Islands Business Journal

http://www.vibj.com

Since introduction of the Russian-built hydrofoil KATRAN-1to the VirginIslands waters in April 1995, Virgin Hy-drofoil Services, Inc. has been makingwaves in the commuter ferry business.

The original intent of the craft wasto offer passengers another way to com-mute between St. Thomas and St. Croix,but immediately following its debut itbecame obvious passengers were ridingthe vessel for pleasure, not just business.Today that fleet has grown to four ves-sels, all owned by Virgin Hydrofoil Serv-ices and backed by Swiss investors.

Charters and commuter ferries arebecoming an important part of the com-pany’s future. In addition to the St.Thomas-St. Croix daily ferry commuterservice, the operation has expanded withcharter services to Puerto Rico and theBritish Virgin Islands, a sightseeing his-torical tour around St. Thomas and St.John, and weekend ferry services fromSt. Thomas to San Juan.

VIRGIN FOILS INVIRGIN WATERS

Virgin Hydrofoil has tapped yetanother new market with the introductionof inter-island transportation of cargo atreasonable rates.

Traveling at 34 knots average, thecraft makes the 40-nautical mile crossingbetween St. Thomas and St. Croix in onehour and 15 minutes, riding on foilswhich raise the cabin eight feet above thewater. The St. Thomas-San Juan triptakes two hours. The fare for round trippassenger service between St. Thomasand San Juan is $37. According tospokesman Stan Louden, this is less thanregular air fare rates to San Juan.

The Virgin Hydrofoil website ishttp://www.st-thomas.com/hydrofoil, email:hydrofoil@islands.vi or phone 1-340-776-7417. Volga Shipyard is athttp://www.plugcom.ru/~volga; email:volga@pol.ru.

Hydrofoil System of KATRAN-1 Built by Volga Shipyard and Operated ByVirgin Hydrofoil Services, Inc. (Photo Enhanced By Stan Louden)

SEAKEEPING PREDICTIONSYSTEM INTRODUCED

Maritime Reporter, Oct 97http://www.marinelink.com

Consilium Marine AB recently in-troduced its new SAL Seakeeping Pre-diction System (SPS) whose purpose isto provide information regarding waveinduced dynamic effects on the ship. Theinformation is obtained by theoreticalcalculations in combination with meas-urements of the ship motions.

The SAL SPS allows basic con-figuration monitoring of bow slamming,green water on deck, hull vertical bend-ing moment, acceleration levels and ef-fective heel angles. SAL SPS displaysresponses in a processed form in terms ofthe most probable maximum value en-countered during a certain period of time.

The new system also features amore sophisticated forecast intended toserve as an operational guidance tool incritical situations. This service allows theoperator to test the outcome of differentactions prior to executing them in realityand will also indicate the optimum cor-rective action.

IHS E-MAIL ADDRESS

foiler@erols.com

Page 12 IHS Winter 1997-98